Liberty has already made history in the NCAA softball tournament. Its triumph over Texas A&M was the talk of the fast-pitch world after the tournament’s opening weekend, as it marked the first time the top overall seed was unable to advance from its own regional under the current format.
But now that the Flames are in the super regionals for the first time in their own program’s history, they hope this thrill ride has one more stop after this week’s trip to Oregon. Two more wins against the Ducks would mean a spot in Oklahoma City at the Women’s College World Series.
“It’s attainable,” said Flames coach Dot Richardson. “I’ve been in the World Series, and now just envisioning Liberty softball being there is exciting. We just have to keep playing the way we play and focus on the ball. I’m just so humbled yet hungry to keep going.”
The opportunity against the top team actually came as something of a surprise. Liberty entered the tournament with 47 wins and might have been somewhat underseeded. Richardson said the team was expecting an assignment closer its home in the south Virginia mountains. An opponent like South Carolina or Clemson. Instead, it got the team the tournament committee ranked No. 1.
“But think about all the eyes that were on that game,” Richardson said. “That was just softball at the highest level. I’m getting chills here just thinking about it.”
UP AND DOWN: Winners and losers from softball tournament regionals
Naturally, the team is enjoying the ride. Right fielder Rachel Roupe, the hitting hero of the regional, told media members she and her fellow Flames haven’t slept much since the triumph against the Aggies.
“Right after we won we went to the hotel pool – which was closed so we had to jump the fence,” she said of the post-game celebration. “I think we got to bed at about 4:30 in the morning, and we haven’t slept much since we got back to Lynchburg.”
In truth the program has been building toward this breakthrough for some time. It began with the hire of Richardson, one of the most decorated players at the collegiate and Olympic levels in the history of the sport. Since Richardson assumed the reins in 2014, Liberty has become a regular participant in the NCAA tournament. As such, those associated with the program are hoping this year’s achievement is, to draw men’s basketball parallels, not so much analogous to that of Maryland-Baltimore County or Fairleigh Dickinson but more akin to Gonzaga’s breakout run in 1999.
Until now, though, the Flames hadn’t reached the round of 16 stage. They were one win away from the super regionals on two other occasions, in 2018 at South Carolina and last season at Georgia. In both those cases, however, the host team managed to beat Liberty twice to move on. Last year, in fact, the Flames were an out away from winning a deciding game in Athens, but the Bulldogs rallied for two runs in the seventh inning to prevail 3-2.
A similar scenario appeared to be unfolding as Texas A&M took a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning in the deciding game on Sunday. But the Flames came up with five huge runs, capped by Roupe’s three-run homer, and held on for the 6-5 win as reliever Kaylan Yoder ended it with a strikeout.
“I truly think the reason we were able to win this game was because of last year,” said catcher Savannah Jessee, whose two-run shot started the sixth-inning rally. “Even though we were down … we were all super calm.”
Not quite everything broke Liberty’s way over the weekend. Had Oregon, the No. 16 seed, not avoided elimination twice against Stanford in its regional, Liberty might be hosting this super. But on the plus side, this trip to the west coast provides an opportunity for a couple members of the team, starting left fielder Paige Doerr and infielder Brynn McManus, to play in their home state.
“I told everyone it should be a lot cooler there this weekend,” Doerr said with a laugh.