DELAND, Fla. - The Stetson University softball team will close out the 2022 regular season against Liberty University in a three-game ASUN series that has already been altered due to the impending weather forecasted in the Lynchburg, Virginia area over the next few days. The Hatters and Flames start things off on Thursday afternoon, a day earlier than originally scheduled, with a doubleheader that begins at 2 pm at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium and finish the series on Friday with a single game currently slated for a 9 am start.
The Hatters enter the games with a 20-32 overall record and a 9-12 league mark. They currently sit in a tie for third place in the East Division standings and will be looking to advance to the upcoming ASUN Softball Championship with a couple of wins against the Flames. Only three playoff spots remain and the Hatters are battling Kennesaw State and Jacksonville (both 9-12), along with West Division teams Eastern Kentucky (9-12) and Lipscomb (7-14) for the last three seeds in the eight-team tournament.
Liberty enters the series with a 38-12 overall record, a perfect 21-0 mark in the conference and have clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming championship. The Flames have won 34 straight ASUN regular-season games, a streak that started on April 3, 2021. Liberty is 53-7 all-time in ASUN regular-season games, posting 16 ASUN series sweeps and 11 series sweeps in a row.
ASUN SOFTBALL INFO: Schedule | Standings | Statistics
Stetson Hatters (20-32, 9-12 ASUN)
Last Three Games: L, 5-3 vs. Kennesaw State* | L, 7-2 vs. Kennesaw State* | L, 8-0 vs. Kennesaw State*
- Stetson's 20 wins this year are the most for the program since 2018 (26) and the nine ASUN victories are the most for the Hatters since winning 10 during the 2015 season.
- The Hatters own an overall 9-7 mark against Liberty, but are 0-3 against the Flames in Lynchburg, losing their only prior ASUN series there back in 2019.
- Brianna Clary is batting over .400 in ASUN-only games (.409) which is second in the league to Liberty's Kara Canetto (.458). Clary's on-base percentage of .473 in league-only games is fifth in the conference. Overall, she is tied for fourth in hits (56), fifth in runs scored (38) and third in stolen bases (22).
- In the national rankings, Clary is 49th in stolen bases and 79th in hits, while Evette Morgan is 83rd in hit by pitch per game (0.21) and Jordyn Stanfill is 12th in runners caught stealing (14). As a team, Stetson is 32nd in double plays per game (0.42), 58th in fielding (.969) and 76th in stolen bases per game (1.27).
- Lizzie Shubert leads the team in triples (3), home runs (7), total bases (66), slugging percentage (.446), and sac flies (3), while in her career at Stetson, currently sits eighth in doubles (32), 10th in triples (8), fifth in home runs (29), eighth in RBI (115), fifth in total bases (289) and fifth in HBP (20).
- Lauren Hobbs owns a team-best 2.72 ERA (2.22 in league-only games) and leads in strikeouts (98) and innings (136.1) as well. Hobbs and Lauren Klein both still share the team-lead with eight wins in the circle, while Klein went over 100 innings thrown last weekend, now at 102.1.
Liberty Flames (38-12, 21-0 ASUN)
Last Three Games: L, 13-9 at #2 Virginia Tech | W, 5-1 at North Florida* | W, 6-2 at North Florida*
- With one more league win, Liberty will tie USC Upstate (22-2, 2014) for the most league wins in a single season in conference history. No ASUN team has ever gone unbeaten in a full conference schedule.
- Through 21 conference games, Liberty leads the ASUN in on-base percentage (.402), runs (135) and RBI (128). Liberty also leads in conference-only ERA (1.24) and strikeouts per seven innings (6.85)
- Liberty has gone 19-5 at home this season, including 2-3 versus Top 25 teams and 9-0 in ASUN home games. Since the start of the 2018 season, Liberty is 91-14 (.867) at Liberty Softball Stadium, including 36-3 (.923) in home conference games during that span
- Offensively, five Flames are batting over .300 led by Canetto (.346), who adds a team-high 11 doubles, and Lou Allan (.333), eight doubles, seven home runs. Caroline Hudson (.302) is tops on the team in home runs (15) and RBI (45), while Devyn Howard (.327) has scored a team-best 48 runs, to go with 10 doubles and seven home runs.
- In the circle, three pitchers have won at least six games, led by Karlie Keeney (16-6) who also has a team-most 147.2 innings and a 2.51 ERA. Emily Kirby is 11-5, has a 2.01 ERA in 90.1 innings and a team-high 110 strikeouts. McKenzie Wagoner is 6-3 with two saves, a 1.95 ERA in 61 innings.
All games this weekend can be followed along through live stats. Links are provided on the Hatters' 2022 schedule page.
portions of this release courtesy of ASUN
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF).
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