Softball Game Preview: Liberty Christian Patriots vs. Columbia Coyotes

Liberty Christian has gone a perfect 3-0 against Columbia recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Patriots will look to defend their home field against the Coyotes at 3:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Liberty Christian has three straight wins, Columbia has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

15 must be Liberty Christian's lucky number: they beat Pomeroy with that score not once but twice on Friday. The Patriots blew past the Pirates 15-1. Considering the Patriots have won six games by more than seven runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Ava Quiroz

Base on Balls Against

04/18/25 @ Pomeroy	1
04/08/25 @ River View	1
03/22/25 vs Post Falls	1

Ava Quiroz made a splash while hitting and pitching. She didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over five innings pitched. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with two runs and one stolen base. Those two runs gave her a new career-high.

In other batting news, Liberty Christian let Camas Van Hollebeke and Alana Lukins run wild. Van Hollebeke went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI, while Lukins went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one double. Those three RBI gave Lukins a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Adeline Roy, who went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases and two runs.

Liberty Christian was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .412. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Pomeroy only posted a batting average of .263.

Meanwhile, Columbia lost 14-2 to Connell on Saturday.

Liberty Christian's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-5. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.3 runs over those games. As for Columbia, their loss dropped their record down to 7-6.

Liberty Christian took their victory against Columbia in their previous matchup back in May of 2019 by a conclusive 7-0 score. Will the Patriots repeat their success, or do the Coyotes have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.