Lady Eagles Fall To Liberty In Championship Game

   ROCK HILL, SC-The fifth-seeded Liberty Lady Flames claimed their first Big South softball title by defeating the fourth-seeded Winthrop Lady Eagles 1-0 in Sunday’s championship game at Terry Field on the campus of Winthrop University.

    This is the first time in tournament history that a one, two, or three seed has not claimed the crown.

     Liberty (28-33) scored the winning run in the third on back-to-back hits by Cassie Campbell and Amanda Maska.  With two outs Campbell singled to left, brining up Maska who doubled down the left field line to bring around Campbell.

   That is all the Lady Flames would need as the tournament’s most valuable player Ali Thompson (10-12) shut down the Lady Eagles.  Thompson kept Winthrop (23-26) scoreless allowing six hits, walking three, and striking out two.

   Winthrop’s Kelli Johnson (21-14) took the loss allowing one run on four hits while striking out eight.

   Winthrop had its chances to score placing runners in scoring position in every inning, leaving a total of 10 runners stranded.

   The Lady Flames will wait to see who they will play in the NCAA regional when the selection process begins Sunday night on ESPN news.

    The 2002 All-Tournament team was announced following the championship game and is as follows: Lauren Yates-Coastal Carolina, Jennifer Schmidt-Coastal Carolina, Donita Brady-Radford, Ashleigh Brooks-Radford, Carol Douglas-Winthrop, Katy Agee-Winthrop, Kelli Johnson-Winthrop, Jennifer Hurley-Liberty, Ali Thompson-Liberty, Lauren Hahn-Liberty, and Amanda Goc-Liberty.  Ali Thompson was awarded the tournament most valuable player.