Liberty’s softball team played its second game of the season against Hazleton on Saturday when the Hurricanes lost 3-2 at Liberty.

The Hurricanes had an opportunity for a first-inning lead after Paige Zigmund hit a line drive up the middle, Kyla Benner hit a single, and Julie Curti reached first base on an error, but the Hurricanes had miscommunication on the bases, which ended the inning.

In the bottom of the third, Mikayla Ruppert had a double, was awarded third base because of interference, and scored on an RBI by Alexa Burger.

“I knew right where I was located and that I could get an extra bag on that,” Ruppert said.

The Cougars tied the game on an RBI double by Rebecca Rossi after a triple by Tiana Treon in the fourth inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, Ruppert walked with the bases loaded and Curti scored.

Ruppert saved a run or more with a falling catch at the fence in right center field in the fifth inning.

“I was playing that side of the field a little bit because I knew they had power. I’ve always known they’ve had power for however many years we’ve played them, and when she hit the ball, I just knew I was going to get it, and I went right for it,” Ruppert said. “I didn’t think about the fence. I didn’t think about anything else. It felt really good. I knew if I gave that up I would have given up runs too.”

In the sixth inning, Hazleton tied the game again on a sacrifice fly and scored the winning run on a ground out to first base.

“For the past couple years we really could never hit [Erika Book] as a pitcher so this year we did a lot more hitting,” said Ruppert. “I’m happy because we’ve been hitting really, really well.”

This week, Liberty will face Bethlehem Catholic on Friday at Becahi.