Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty scored all but one of its runs on the long ball as the Flames swept the Norfolk State softball team, 9-0, 7-1, Wednesday afternoon at the Liberty Softball Field.

Liberty's Kelly Strickland belted a pair of home runs and had six RBI in Game 1, while Katrina Johnson and Grace Nordan combined to no-hit the Spartans in five innings. In Game 2, Johnson and Alyssa DiMartino allowed just one run on four hits in seven innings, and the Flames hit three more homers to highlight their offensive outburst.

Liberty improved to 22-18 on the season, while NSU fell to 10-23 overall this year. The Flames hit seven homers all-together in the doubleheader. Johnson (11-5) picked up the win in the first game, and DiMartino (3-3) earned the victory in the second game.

Junior Casey Pomeroy (5-8) suffered the loss in Game 1, allowing three runs on three hits while getting just one out in the first inning. Freshman Jamie Schulle (2-9) gave up all seven runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings in Game 2. Junior Danielle Wright had a pair of hits in the nightcap.

Strickland hit a two-run home run in the first inning of the first game, then added a grand slam the very next inning. Ashley Bensinger followed up Strickland's homer with a solo shot as the Flames took a 7-0 lead after two innings, and after relief pitcher Elizabeth Castaneda pitched a scoreless third and fourth innings, Meredith Crisante hit one over the center field fence in the bottom of the fifth with no outs to end the game.

Freshman Melina Valles hit an RBI groundout to third to score Wright in the top of the first in the later game, but a solo shot by Crisante in the bottom of the second and another run in the third put Liberty on top, 2-1. Bensinger's three-run shot to left center in the fourth broke open the game, and Nordan's two-run homer an inning later capped the scoring for the Flames.

NSU will turn right around and host UMES Thursday at 2 p.m. at the NSU Softball Field.