Liberty softball’s meteoric rise the past two seasons has come through domination in the Big South Conference and victories against similar programs on the cusp of national recognition.
There have been plenty of victories (93 so far), and an elusive conference tournament championship that locked the Flames into NCAA regional play for the first time in seven seasons.
As Liberty aims to win a regional game for the first time, it will have to do something that has been lacking from its resume recently: Recording a victory against a Top 25 team.
“We’ve tasted what it’s like to be in those big games, those big moments, and we’ve felt the pressure and the stress,” senior Alexia Taylor said earlier this week. “It’s definitely an experience and we’ve prepared ourselves for that, so we’ve just got to push through that one brick wall to get through to the wins, but I think we’ve prepared ourselves enough to do that.”
Liberty (47-12) opens the Columbia Regional at 5 p.m. today against No. 24 Hofstra (40-12), the Colonial Athletic Association tournament champion. The teams meet at Carolina Softball Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, and play in today’s first game.
No. 11 South Carolina (45-14), the tournament host and Southeastern Conference tournament runner-up, plays Southern Conference regular-season and tournament champion UNC Greensboro (46-11) at 7:30 p.m.
“We can beat any team that comes our way,” Flames pitcher Julia DiMartino said.
The Flames are competing in the toughest of the 16 regionals based on combined victories (178) and combined RPI (113). It is the only regional with four 40-win teams, and Columbia is one of five regionals with at least three automatic qualifiers.
Liberty, which could end up playing both ranked teams in the region, is 0-19 against Top 25 teams in Dot Richardson’s five seasons at the helm, and the Flames are winless in 11 matchups against ranked teams the past two seasons.
“The goal is to play Liberty softball and the fun part is that the kids know what that means,” Richardson said. “Each one of them focusing on just being present, don’t worry about all the distractions, don’t worry about all the expectations, don’t put unnecessary stress — pressure’s good, but stress is not — so the excitement of competition needs to drive you to being in the zone [and] doing what you know.”
The Flames are riding the momentum of a program-record 17-game winning streak into today’s first-ever meeting with Hofstra. Liberty is hitting .343 with 12 home runs during the streak, and the pitching staff has combined for a 0.81 ERA with 84 strikeouts to 18 walks.
The winning streak and sensational statistics will be challenged by the Pride and their strong pitching staff anchored by Sophie Dandola and Sarah Cornell, the CAA pitcher of the year.
The two have combined for all 40 victories this season to go with a 2.17 ERA and 298 strikeouts.
Cornell accounted for 23 victories, 230 strikeouts and 18 complete games.
“I believe the more that we’re swinging at strikes, the more successful we’re going to be,” Richardson said.
The offense is led by Brittany Allocca and Brielle Pietrafesa, who have hit 15 and 13 home runs, respectively, this season. The two have combined to drive in 107 runs and both are hitting .353.
The Pride enter the regional on a five-game winning streak after losing four in a row. The winning streak included a pair of victories over James Madison, a perennial softball power from the CAA.
Hofstra was able to knock down JMU in order to reach a regional for the first time since 2015.
Now Liberty wants to knock down a Top 25 team in order to continue the upward climb of the program.
“The fact that we’re going to a regional is awesome and that’s program building,” Taylor said. “But we’ve just got to keep building on top of our success. It’s not just getting to one moment. It’s getting beyond that moment.”
Damien Sordelett covers Liberty University athletics and local golf for The News & Advance. Reach him at (434) 385-5550.