LYNCHBURG, Va. – The final tally is not indicative of how tight a contest the Conference USA opener was for Jax State in a 5-0 setback at Liberty Friday night.
 
A five-run, two-out rally for the Flames (12-14, 3-1 CUSA) in the fifth inning was the difference in the weekend opener. Following a stellar start by junior Kat Carter, who retired 14 of the first 15 Liberty batters, Jax State (10-16, 0-1 CUSA) could not come up with the final out in the fifth allowing the Flames to pounce on the scoreboard.
 
Carter's two-out walk to Rachel Crane preceded back-to-back RBI singles that signaled the end of Carter's time in the circle. Her final line read three hits and three earned runs by the time the book was closed on her outing, drawing the tough-luck-loss tag by her name.
 
Liberty stayed hot against reliever Jordan Eslinger with three straight hits that ultimately forced Amber Reed to the circle who finally got out of the inning. Junior Sarah Currie tossed a scoreless sixth frame, although the Flames managed to threaten with loaded bases after three hits.
 
Prior to Liberty's big break in the fifth, Jax State had the bases full in the top half of the inning when a liner to center off the bat of Caroline Lively was returned home for a double-play tagging Ella Pate out at the plate who was pinch running for Morgan Nowakowski. After coming up empty in the fifth, Jax State left the bases full again in the sixth, as part of seven runners left stranded on the night.
 
Game two of the three-game series will take place Saturday afternoon at 2:00 ET/1:00 CT.