Coming off a disappointing weekend sweep to Notre Dame the #20/#19 Virginia Tech Softball team heads to Liberty Wednesday afternoon for a non-conference contest. The game is scheduled for 6:00 pm and will be televised by the ESPN+. The teams have a return engagement scheduled for May 5th in Blacksburg.

Liberty will be the toughest non-conference opponent the Hokies will play during the regular season. The Flames come into this game brimming with confidence and red hot. They have an overall record of 33-12 (13-2 ASUN) and are riding a 12 game winning streak in which they have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 68-9. That streak includes two wins over UVA, 7 shutouts, and 4 run-rule victories.

The Flames have played a strong schedule this season, which has resulted in an RPI of 22, one spot ahed of the Hokies. Eight of their losses have come versus teams ranked in the Top 7 at the time of the contests, including #5 Alabama (6-3 and 8-1), #7 LSU (4-3 and 8-5), #5 Oklahoma State (9-4 and 3-0) and #1 Oklahoma (5-4 and 16-0). The Flames split a pair of games with Notre Dame, and lost a game to #18 Tennessee. They also lost two games to the Hokies opening weekend foe Kennesaw State.

Although the Flames are led offensively by Sophomore Kaye Canetto (.411 average, 58 hits), the key to the team’s success lies at the top of the batting order with fifth year senior twins Amber and Autumn Bishop. Amber, who is hitting .370 this season with 14 homeruns, has started 260 games in her Liberty career, primarily at second base. Autumn, who is hitting .347 this year with 10 HRs, has started 242 games, primarily at first base. (One note: Amber got married in October and is listed on the Flames roster as Amber Bishop-Riley, but on all the stats as simply Amber Bishop).

When Liberty and VT last played (4-17-18), both twins homered to lead the Flames to a 6-3 win. The losing pitcher in that game was Hokies ace Keely Rochard, who gave up only one earned run, but was victimized by the Hokies’ defense.

In the circle, the Flames are led by Junior Emily Kirby (1.91 ERA, 108 Ks in 91.2 innings), who pitched an 10 inning shutout against #13 Arkansas earlier this year. Kirby has started 16 games for the Flames while Freshman Karlie Keeney (2.55 ER5, 43 Ks in 101.2 innings) has started 14.

Liberty is coached by former Olympian Dot Richardson, who helped Team USA to Olympic Gold in 1996 and 2000. She was hired by Liberty in July, 2013 and was instrumental in the planning the state-of-the-art Liberty Softball Stadium, which debuted during the 2015 season. She has guided the Flames to over 240 wins during her tenure, including 3 consecutive 40 win seasons in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

This should be a very competitive game. Based on the Tale of the Tape below, the two teams are very close statistically, with the Hokies having a slight advantage in the pitching department. The Lynchburg weather looks awesome – partly sunny and 88 degrees.

Let’ Go Hokies!