The Liberty Hurricanes could not have choreographed a second inning Easton rundown any better: Cailin Donegan to Kristin Kaleycik to Michaela Brunnabend to Kaleycik to Mikayla Ruppert, who made the tag to preserve Liberty’s 3-0 lead that turned into a 12-2 victory on Monday.

“I saw the rundown happening, and Michaela Brunnabend came off second, and I knew me or Reyna [DeJesus] had to back up the throw, so I decided I would go in,” Ruppert said.

Liberty third baseman Dallas Horning was also in the mix.

“Kristin came behind, and then we switched back,” said Horning. “It was probably our most major rundown in a big game like this. It was really exciting too.”

For Liberty coach Sam Carrodo, that was the turning point of the game.

“Leading 3-0 was a huge confidence builder, but we couldn’t let them in the game,” Carrodo said. “After the rundown, the momentum stayed with us. They did it perfectly. It’s all reaction. You can’t coach that while it’s going on. I’m so proud of them.”

Offensively, the Hurricanes struck in the first inning when DeJesus doubled, Kaleycik walked, and Victoria Schmidt doubled but continued to third base on an error.

“Our team was up and cheering, and I was wanting to get a solid hit,” said Schmidt. “It felt really good to get ahead so I could pitch and not have all that pressure.”

Alyssa Millhouse had a hit down the third base line that scored the Hurricanes’ third run.

“I actually crowded the plate because I know Meg [Kavanagh] throws to the outside,” Millhouse said. “She threw a drop inside, and I turned on it. It felt really good.”

The Hurricanes scored four more runs in the third inning and three runs in the fourth on a three-run home run by DeJesus before scoring two runs in the sixth.

Easton scored its runs in the top of the fourth inning and left the bases loaded in the fifth when Kaleycik, who had just been robbed of a home run, fielded a grounder to Horning to end the inning.

“Easton beat us twice last season,” said Carrodo. “We had to come out and play a solid game. This was a huge win, and I hope it catapults us through the rest of the season.”