Spartan Softball Ranked No. 57 In RPI
4/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 17, 2008
Spartanburg, S.C. - The USC Upstate softball team is the in the midst of a strong season in its first year playing as a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference and has moved up to No. 57 in the latest RPI ranking released by the NCAA.
Upstate was ranked 93rd in last week's RPI ranking, but sweeps of Furman, Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast vaulted the Spartans up 36 spots in this week's ranking to No. 57 out of 282 Division I softball programs. Upstate is currently 29-12 overall and 13-5 in the A-Sun this season. The Spartans are in third place in the A-Sun and take on second-place Lipscomb (15-5) Saturday in Nashville.
Upstate is the second-highest ranked team from the A-Sun in the RPI ranking. Florida Gulf Coast, which is first in the league with a 15-3 record and owns a 45-13 overall mark, is ranked 43rd in the latest ranking. Upstate is 57th and is followed by Kennesaw State (63), Campbell (68), North Florida (77), Stetson (92), Lipscomb (104), Mercer (111), East Tennessee State (138), Gardner-Webb (146), Jacksonville (159) and Belmont (190).
"What's good about the RPI is that it takes into account your won/loss record as well as your strength of schedule to give you an indication of where you stand in relation to other teams," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "Sometimes Top 25 polls can be political in every sport. The RPI is an unbiased ranking. Obviously, last week gave us a huge boost and it is really nice to see our ranking go up to 57th. But, it is just a ranking and we still have to go out and perform on the field."
Upstate is ranked ahead of several BCS conference schools in the top 100 RPI ranking, including Louisville (65), Georgia Tech (66), North Carolina State (69), Oregon State (71), Penn State (74), Minnesota (75), Pittsburgh (78), Oklahoma State (79), Kentucky (84) and Iowa State (89).
In addition to the RPI ranking, the Spartans are also making a mark on the conference level by ranking at or near the top in several team and individual statistical categories. As a team, Upstate ranks third in pitching with a 2.02 ERA and fourth in the A-Sun in hitting with a .285 batting average. Individually, freshman sensation Morgan Childers (Kings Mountain, N.C.) leads the conference with 22 wins and ranks second with a 1.26 ERA, 227 strikeouts, nine shutouts and a .170 opponent's batting average. Fellow freshman Courtney Feldon (Denver, N.C.) ranks eighth in the A-Sun with a .367 batting average, while junior Heidi Gibbs (Florence, S.C.) ranks ninth with a .366 batting average. Senior Shay Slater (Anderson, S.C.) is fifth in the league with 22 stolen bases.
