For the first time ever, the nation’s No. 1 team is not advancing to the Super Regionals after Liberty upset Texas A&M in the Bryan-College Station Regional, completing the regional win with a 6-5 win Sunday night in Texas. The win also marks history for the Liberty softball team, as the Lady Flames advance to the Super Regionals for the first time in program history.
Yes, this was an upset. No, this wasn’t a David takes down Goliath type of monumental takedown. This was two veteran teams, worthy of playing on the stage they were on, going toe to toe for three full games. It was an epic battle with wild and dramatic momentum swings throughout the three games these two played over the weekend.
“Unfortunately, because we’re not in a Power Four (Conference), they think we’re such an underdog,” said Liberty head coach Dr. Dot Richardson. “It was put in a David vs Goliath (scenario). I think for Texas A&M, they didn’t take us lightly. They were ready. They had been scouting. We had been scouting them. It’s so fun when you see competition like this. It’s so fun to be part of.”
It was certainly a battle. In the first meeting between the two of the Regional on Saturday, Liberty trailed the Aggies, 5-3, entering the sixth inning. Then the Lady Flames erupted for five runs, highlighted by KK Madrey’s home run, to advance to Sunday’s Regional Final with an 8-5 win, overcoming a two-error second inning that allowed A&M to plate four of their five runs in the game.
That win put Liberty just one win shy of making program history and advancing to the Super Regionals. Meanwhile, Texas A&M would stave off elimination Saturday night with a win over Marist to get to Sunday’s rematch in the Regional Final with the Flames.
Liberty would strike quickly looking to clinch the regional without suffering a loss. Savannah Woodard led off the bottom of the first with a home run. The Lady Flames would tack on five in the second, capped by Rachel Roupe’s grand slam, to seize a commanding 6-0 lead. Could this be the moment?
Of course, the host Aggies fought back, scoring 10 unanswered from the third through fifth innings to take a 10-6 lead. Liberty would not roll over and concede the game, clawing back to tie the game with four runs in the bottom of the seventh. Madrey even stepped to the plate with the bases loaded with a chance to earn a walk-off win. The nation’s top seeded team wouldn’t allow that though. Getting Madrey to fly out before winning the game in extra innings, 14-11, to advance the win or go home game seven less than an hour later.
Playing with all the momentum, the Aggies took the early lead, 3-0, and held it into the fifth. Roupe’s second home run of the day made it 3-1 before Savannah Jessee hit a two-run blast, her first hit of the regional, in the sixth to tie the game. A few batters later and Roupe hit a three-run shot for what would be the eventual winning run. Liberty would hold on in the closing innings with Kaylan Yoder recording the final five outs to preserve the win. Liberty literally took all the best shots from the nation’s top team and did not back down.
This wasn’t Liberty’s first shot at winning a regional or first shot at making national headlines. This is something this program has been building to for several years. The Lady Flames have played and beaten numerous household names in college softball over the last few seasons. This year’s team made the program’s fifth straight regional appearance, and the Flames have now been to three straight regional finals and four in the past five years. During those postseason runs, Liberty has beaten Georgia, No. 11 Georgia, No. 9 Tennessee, and No. 2 UCLA. The team wasn’t overwhelmed by Texas A&M or their ranking.
“Every single year has led up to this moment,” Roupe said Sunday night after the regional clinching win. “It’s taken Athens. It’s taken UCLA, being in a regional final with San Diego State. It’s taken Duke. From freshman year on, just being in those moments and not making them bigger than they are and knowing that we need to execute this time. It was almost like deja vu, but we had to through it.”
Coach Richardson had similar thoughts following the game.
“We have eight seniors,” she explained, “and a lot of them afterwards were like, ‘We did it! We did it! It took four years, but we did it!'”
This year’s Liberty team began the season ranked in the Top 25 and spent much of the season as a ranked team. The Flames were a bit surprised when the NCAA Selection Committe pitted them against the nation’s No. 1 team, but they didn’t sulk or feel sorry for themselves. Instead, they went to work preparing mentally and physically for the challenge.
“Anyone can be number one,” KK Madrey said last week before making the trip to College Station. “Technically, we can be number one after this. The number doesn’t matter. We’ve been ranked. They’ve been ranked. They’ve just been ranked higher for a longer time, but they haven’t played us yet.”
This is a veteran team Dot Richardson has assembled with pieces from all over the country. It took a full squad to take down Texas A&M while fighting through various injuries and ailments affected normal every day players. It’s the best team the Lady Flames have ever had, and they just proved it this past weekend in College Station.
“Our players could play anywhere and they chose to be at Liberty,” Richardson said. “They want to be part of the culture, and they want to play competitive ball. They’re champions. They’re competitive.”
With a little bit of history in their back pocket, the Lady Flames are now playing with house money. Liberty’s next challenge is No. 16 Oregon who had to win two games Sunday against Stanford to advance to the Super Regionals where they will host the Flames this weekend beginning Friday night. The Ducks (50-8, 19-3 Big Ten) just hosted their first regional since 2018. They were ranked in the top 10 for the majority of the season and won the Big Ten’s regular season title.
“We know we can get the job done,” said Liberty catch Savannah Jessee. “We just beat the number one team in the country. I see it as what’s another top ranked team? We are going to come in with fire and give it all we have. I know all of us are going to be firing on all cylinders, and we’re going to be locked in like we were this weekend.”
The Lady Flames (50-13) won both the Conference USA regular-season and tournament titles for the second year in a row. Liberty posted a 23-3 conference record, claiming all nine CUSA series while setting a Conference USA single-season record for conference wins.
“This is a serious team,” said Coach Richardson. “This is a team you need to look at and respect what we got. We’re just going to keep rolling.”
