RADFORD, Va. – The Liberty Lady Flames defeated the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 4-2 in game two of the 2009 Big South Championship Presented by Texas Roadhouse this afternoon. A two-run Liberty fifth inning was a key factor in the Lady Flames victory.

 

Coastal Carolina got on the board first, as Kelsey Riffel led off the third with a bunt single to the pitcher. Riffel moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and moved to third on Tiffani Smith’s third illegal pitch of the inning. Mecaela Ballard then drove in the first run of the contest, lacing a single through the left side to score Riffel and give the Chanticleers the early 1-0 lead.

 

The Lady Flames answered right back in the bottom of the third. After Jenny Law lead off the inning with a double, Cassie Hendrix reached base on a Chanticleer fielding miscue that would have been the second out of the inning. The following batter, Kelly Strickland lined a two-run double to left centerfield to give Liberty the 2-1 advantage heading into the fourth.

 

Stacy Snellings led off the Chanticleer fourth with her conference-leading 33^rd walk of the season, and immediately moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Another Smith illegal pitch moved Snellings to third with one out. After Smith’s eight illegal pitch of the contest, she was lifted in favor of reliever Sarah Ellis. After Ellis struck out the first batter she faced, the reliever gave up an RBI single to Sarah Maples to tie the game at 2-2.

 

Liberty took the lead for the second time in the contest, as the Lady Flames manufactured a pair of runs in the fifth, propelled by Jenna Eatmon walk to lead off the inning. The sophomore went on to steal second and move to third on a sacrifice bunt. The next batter J’Nae Jefferson, grounded out to second, but with the infield playing back Eatmon crossed the plate to take the 3-2 advantage. With two outs, Kelly Strickland was hit by a pitch, and went on to score on a single to left field by Beth Bennett to stretch the Lady Flames lead to 4-2.

 

The big fifth inning proved to be the difference for the Lady Flames, holding onto the 4-2 advantage.

 

With the win, Ellis improves to 13-21 on the season, as she worked 3.2 inning of relief and allowed only two hits to six strikeouts. McCranie falls to 3-9 on the season with the loss, as she tossed 4.2 innings of four-hit ball and allowed two earned runs.

 

With the win, Liberty plays Winthrop tonight at 7:30 p.m. in game four of the tournament. Coastal Carolina will play Gardner-Webb in game five of the tournament tomorrow at noon.

 

Quotes

Coastal Carolina Head Coach Jess Dannelly

“We had one error that really cost us two runs, and we struck out 11 times. That about sums it up. Ivy (McCranie) and Katelin (Edwards) pitched well, but we just couldn’t pull it together in the end.”

 

 

Liberty Head Coach Paul Wetmore

“We showed pure determination today. We overcame some obstacles and had several key hits. Sarah Ellis came in and did a terrific job for us.”