Upstate Softball Goes 4-0 in Upstate Softball Classic
10/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Oct. 1, 2007
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate softball team returned to action last weekend, playing host to the Upstate Fall Classic Softball Tournament at Cyrill Stadium. The Spartans finished the event 4-0 to improve to 9-0 in the fall.
Upstate hosted Belmont Abbey, Francis Marion, Georgia Perimeter and Spartanburg Methodist in the five-team round robin tournament Saturday and Sunday. In games not involving the Spartans, Georgia Perimeter defeated Spartanburg Methodist, 4-3, Francis Marion claimed a 3-0 victory over Spartanburg Methodist, Georgia Perimeter took a 3-0 win over Francis Marion and Belmont Abbey and Spartanburg Methodist finished with a 2-2 tie.
Upstate opened the tournament against Georgia Perimeter Friday evening at 5:00 and walked away with a 3-0 victory. Brittany Rice and Kayla Short combined for the 3-0 shutout. Upstate hit four singles and scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to do the damage and the two Spartan hurlers limited GPC to four hits in the game.
In the second game of the tournament for the Spartans, Upstate claimed an 8-0 victory over Francis Marion in a game called using the mercy rule. Morgan Childers struck out five in four innings before being forced to leave the game when she suffered a broken nose after being hit in the face with the ball. She is expected to miss the final fall tournament at Winthrop Oct. 6-7, but will participate in individual workouts later in the fall and will be at full strength when the 2008 regular season begins in mid-February.
The Spartans collected 11 hits against Francis Marion, Upstate's former rival in the Peach Belt Conference. Heidi Gibbs finished the game 3-for-4, while Shay Slater was 2-for-4 to lead the Spartans at the plate. Upstate stole six bases in the contest as Childers and Short, who tossed the final two innings, limited the Patriots to just three hits.
Sunday's action saw Upstate take on Spartanburg Methodist and Belmont Abbey. In the SMC game, Short and Rice again combined for the 6-2 win. Short went five innings before giving way to Rice for the final inning. Melissa Lockey was 2-for-2 with a stolen base and Jenna Torbert finished 2-for-2 for the Spartans. Upstate stole four bases against the Pioneers.
In the tournament finale, Rice turned in a solid performance in the circle for the Spartans in the 4-1 win over Belmont Abbey, tossing six innings of shutout ball before giving way to Amber Patterson in the seventh. Slater went 3-for-4 and Lauren Quevedo was 2-for-3 to lead Upstate at the plate.
For the weekend, Upstate pounded out 21 runs on 38 hits in four games. The Spartans end their fall season this weekend at Winthrop's fall tournament.
