Liberty Defeats Panthers After Being Down to Its Last Strike

MIAMI, FL – Liberty took advantage of Megan Villazon in the first pair of innings, forcing her to exit the game early. Kennedy Byrd (7-6) earned the loss out of the bullpen despite shutting down the Flames in some of the latter innings of the game. Liberty defeated the Panthers 6-5 after previously being down to its last strike.

Megan Villazon has a Short Start

Facing just 11 batters today, Villazon had a short start. The Flames scored two runs off her in the first inning. Maci Strikland drove in both runs with a single. In the second inning, Villazon got pulled out of the game. She tossed 1.2 innings, allowing four hits on 39 pitches.

Liberty Scores Two More on Kennedy Byrd

Brooke Roberts hit a sac bunt in the third for Liberty, and Alexia Carrasquillo hit an RBI single in the fourth to make it 4-0. With those two moments aside, Byrd had a great outing out of the bullpen. She made her second appearance in the series and was able to temporarily rebound from Friday’s outing.

Panthers Score Five Unanswered Runs

Isabella Perez drove in Leah Clark with an RBI single, cutting the FIU deficit to 4-1. In the fifth, the Panthers tallied for two additional runs with a two-run single from Paige Miller, making it 4-3.

Bot 5th
Liberty 4 | FIU 3

Paige Miller hits a clutch two-run single to put the Panthers within a run#FIU #Panthers #PawsUp https://t.co/OfN17Q33Y6

— Ricardo Urrusuno (@RickScores) April 19, 2026

In the sixth, the Panthers scored two additional runs to take the lead. FIU used a timely approach with their at-bats. Jensen Luke got hit by a pitch, and then Grace Helbling and Byrd drew walks to load the bases.

Janelle Martinez delivered with a huge two-run single to put the Panthers up for the first time in the game. The RBI rewrote the script for FIU with its fifth unanswered run.

Bot 6th
Liberty 4 | FIU 5

Janelle Martinez with a huge two-run single here to put the Panthers up. They have scored five unanwered.#FIU #Panthers #PawsUp https://t.co/qKF7zlIuFv

— Ricardo Urrusuno (@RickScores) April 19, 2026

Clark led the team with three hits, and Kally Meredith had a pair of singles. Martinez and Miller both had two RBIs.

Flames Get the Upper Hand in the Seventh

With runners in scoring position, Liberty was down to its last strike until Dani Lee hit a two-run single to put the Flames back on top 6-5. Byrd tossed 5.1 innings, allowing four hits and four runs on 63 pitches.

About Post Author

Ricardo Urrusuno

He’s a diehard 305 native who roots for his hometown teams in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Recently, he graduated from FIU with an MBA, but now he’s a Lemonhead covering UM basketball. Known to be anywhere and everywhere, you may catch him at a Miami sporting event.

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