Liberty softball claimed four major postseason awards as announced by Conference USA on Tuesday. Additionally, the Lady Flames placed a league-best nine players on the all-conference team, including six first team selections.
Senior outfielder Rachel Roupe was named CUSA Player of the Year. Senior Elena Escobar was voted CUSA Pitcher of the Year, and redshirt-junior Savanah Whatley was named CUSA Newcomer of the e Year. 12th year head coach Dot Richardson was voted CUSA Coach of the Year.
Liberty’s All-CUSA first team selections were Escobar, redshirt sophomore catcher Savannah Jessee, senior KK Madrey, junior Brynn McManus, Roupe, and Whatley. The Lady Flames were represented on second-team all-conference by senior Paige Bachman, senior Savannah Woodard, and sophomore Kaylan Yoder. Roupe is a four-time all-conference selection, being named to the first team each of the last three years. Bachman, Escobar, Madrey, and Yoder all receive their second career all-conference awards.
This is the 10th time in program history and fourth in the last five years that Liberty has had its conference’s player of the year award winner. Amber Bishop-Riley was named ASUN Player of the Year in 2021 before Caroline Hudson earned the award each of the next two seasons. Roupe currently bats .385 for the season while leading the CUSA with 18 doubles, 20 homers, and 63 RBI. She is tied for 11th in NCAA Division I softball in both homers and doubles, 16th in RBI and 10th in total bases (142). In conference play, Roupe led all CUSA hitters in batting average (.486), slugging percentage (1.149), OPS (1.745), runs (27), home runs (13), and RBI (39). She became the first player to be named CUSA Softball Player of the Week five times in a single season.
Escobar is the fourth Lady Flame to be named conference pitcher of the year, joining Tiffani Smith (2010), Julia DiMartino (2017-18), and Emily Kirby (2021-22). Escobar posted a 19-3 record this season with five shutouts while ranking second in CUSA in overall wins, ERA (2.08), and strikeouts (140). In conference play, she was a perfect 12-0 with a 1.33 ERA while holding opponents to a batting average of .168.
Whatley is the first conference newcomer of the year honoree in program history. After transferring from Oregon State, Whatley ranks fourth on the team with a .354 batting average and has been the team’s starting shortstop throughout the season.
Coach Richardson receives her fifth career coach of the year honor, with two in the Big South (2017-18), two in the ASUN (2021-22), and the 2024 CUSA Coach of the Year award. Richardson guided Liberty to its second CUSA regular season title in a row this season at 23-3 in conference play, the most conference victories by a team in a single season in CUSA softball history. Liberty has been ranked in the Top 25 in every week except for two so far this season and currently holds an RPI of 28. The Lady Flames tied the program record for home wins (24), regular season wins (44), and conference wins (23) this season. The Lady Flames have now won 40 or more games in seven out of the last eight full seasons.
At 44-11 overall and 23-3 in CUSA play, Liberty is currently preparing for the CUSA Softball Championship, hosted in Bowling Green, Kentucky by Western Kentucky. The defending champion Lady Flames are the No. 1 seed for the second straight year. Liberty has a first round bye and will face the winner of No. 4 seed Louisiana Tech and No. 5 seed New Mexico State on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. The title game will be held on Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern with the winner claiming the CUSA’s automatic berth to the 2025 NCAA Division I Softball Championship.
