Spartans Take On Paladins, Blue Hose In Midweek Games
4/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 22, 2008
Complete Midweek Game Notes in PDF Format 
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate takes on in-state, non-conference opponents Furman and Presbyterian in its final week of the season. The Spartans travel to Greenville to take on Furman Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. before hitting the road to Clinton Thursday for a 2:00 p.m. start. Upstate enters the week with a 30-13 record, having won 11 of its last 12 games. Furman is 19-25 on the season and is on a four-game losing streak. Presbyterian is 13-28 on the year and snapped a five-game losing streak with an 8-6 win against Mercer on Apr. 20. Live statistical updates using Gametracker via the official Upstate Athletics website at www.upstatespartans.com will be available for the Furman doubleheader, while the Presbyterian games can be heard live via the internet by visiting the WLBG website at www.wlbg.com.
Recapping Lipscomb
In a battle of the second- and third-ranked teams in the A-Sun, Upstate recorded a split with Lipscomb in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday evening. The Spartans rallied from a 7-4 deficit with three runs in the top of the seventh inning of game one, getting a three-run homer from Lauren Quevedo to send the game into extra innings. Kim Brasil scored the game-winning run on a fielding error in the eighth. Morgan Childers won her A-Sun best 23rd game of the season.
In game two, Brittany Rice and Lipscomb starter Abby Jacobson battled to a scoreless tie entering the sixth inning. However, Lipscomb scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to open a 3-0 lead and kept the Spartans off the board in the seventh to take the win.
About The Competition
Furman enters Wednesday's doubleheader with 19-25 overall record and on a four-game losing streak. The Paladins had been on a four-game winning streak prior to being swept by Upstate on Apr. 8 at Cyrill Stadium. The two losses started a run that saw Furman go 2-8 in its next 10 games. The Paladins are hitting .244 as a team. Abby Robertson leads the team with a .296 batting average with 19 RBIs and 23 runs. Brythe Blankenship is hitting .283 with 24 RBIs. Furman owns a 3.16 team ERA. Lana Mackey has made a team-high 27 starts and 35 appearances with a 3.15 ERA and a team-high 14 wins.
Presbyterian travels to North Greenville Tuesday, but enters the week with a 13-28 overall record having snapped a five-game losing streak with an 8-6 win at Mercer on Apr. 20. The Blue Hose are hitting .257 as a team with three players hitting over .300 for the year. Katie Anderson leads the way with a .341 batting average. Rachel Parker is the power hitter in the lineup, hitting .339 with 10 home runs and 25 RBIs. Presbyterian owns a 4.46 team ERA. Three pitchers - Mary Gordon, Erin Stewart and Paige Cassady - have made 18 or more appearances on the year. Gordon tops the team with a 3.74 ERA, nine wins and 90 strikeouts.
The End Of A Streak
Entering the doubleheader with Lipscomb in Nashville last Saturday, Upstate owned the seventh-longest active winning streak in the country at 10 games and extended it to 11 with a come-from-behind 8-7 victory in the first game of the doubleheader. The win also snapped Lipscomb's 11-game winning streak. However, the Bisons countered by taking a 3-0 win in game two, ending Upstate's season-best 11-game winning streak. The streak was the most wins in a row since the Spartans opened the 2007 season with 12 straight victories.
Spartans 57th In Latest RPI
The new NCAA RPI will be released sometime Wednesday afternoon. However, Upstate took a big step up the RPI ladder in the last RPI ranking released by the NCAA, moving up 37 spots to No. 57 (see complete A-Sun list at left). Upstate is the second-highest A-Sun school in the RPI listing, trailing Florida Gulf Coast at No. 43. There are six A-Sun schools ranked in the top 100. Upstate is also ahead of several BCS conference schools in the top 100 including Louisville, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, Oregon State, Penn State, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Kentucky and Iowa State.
Slater Tops In The Books
Shay Slater has six more games to add to her list of accomplishments at Upstate. She currently sits at the top of the career record list with 225 games played, 224 games started, 129 stolen bases, 192 runs scored and 11 sacrifice flies. She also ranks among the all-time greats in 10 other statistical categories and should break the all-time at bats record by season's end.
The senior from Anderson, S.C., has had a storied collegiate career, earning All-America, All-Region and All-Conference honors a year ago and hitting .370 for her career.
Quevedo Delivering With The Long Ball
Lauren Quevedo has certainly picked up the pace with power in the last two weeks. She connected on four home runs, including two grand slams, with three homers plating game-winning runs two weeks ago to earn A-Sun Player of the Week honors. In the only games last week, Quevedo knocked a game-tying three-run homer in the seventh inning at Lipscomb in game one of the doubleheader, sending the game into extra innings. The Spartans went on to win the game in the eighth. At that point, she had hit a home run in five of the last six games and accounted for 15 RBIs on five homers.
Spartans In The A-Sun
In its first season as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, Upstate is turning in some strong numbers and ranks among the league leaders in several categories. The Spartans currently rank third in the league in hitting with a .285 batting average, fourth in pitching with a 2.13 ERA and sixth with a .962 fielding percentage.
Individually, Heidi Gibbs ranks seventh in the A-Sun in hitting with a .370 batting average, while Courtney Feldon is ninth with a .362 batting average. Gibbs ranks ninth with a .449 on base percentage. Shay Slater ranks fourth with 23 stolen bases. In the circle, Morgan Childers tops the league with 23 wins and ranks second in the league with nine shutouts, third with 232 strikeouts and a .172 opponent's batting average, fourth with a 1.43 ERA and 22 complete games, fifth with five saves, and sixth with 34 appearances and 186.1 innings pitched.
Pitcher Queen Of The Sacrifice
Senior catcher/first baseman Tiffany Pitcher has accomplished a lot in her four years at Upstate. She currently ranks first all-time with a .991 fielding percentage. With a sacrifice on March 16, she surpassed Erin Driggers for first on the all-time sacrifice bunts list at Upstate. She now has 34 in her four-year career.
Miscellaneously Speaking
Heidi Gibbs tops the Spartans with 15 multi-hit games this season. She has notched two hits on 13 occasions and three hits twice. Shay Slater is second with 13 multi-hit games. Brasil tops the Spartans with seven multi-RBI games, driving in two runs six times and three on one occasion. Lauren Quevedo is second with six multi-RBI games. Gibbs and Feldon are tied atop the list for the longest hitting streak of the year, both turning in nine-game hitting streaks this season.
Quevedo Named Upstate's First A-Sun Player Of The Week
Lauren Quevedo became Upstate's first A-Sun Player of the Week honoree in the history of the program and the second softball player to win a weekly award from the conference (see note below) when she earned the recognition on Apr. 14. She hit four home runs, including two grand slams, and accounted for 12 RBIs to lead Upstate to six wins the week of Apr. 7-13. She hit a solo walk-off home run to lift Upstate to a 7-6 win over Furman to start the week. She hit a grand slam to break a tie and give Upstate a 6-2 win over Stetson in the first game of the doubleheader sweep. She then hit a two-run homer in the second game to lead Upstate to a 5-1 win over the Hatters. She ended the week with a grand slam in the second game of the sweep of Florida Gulf Coast. In all, she drove in the winning runs on three of the six wins for the Spartans, all on homers.
Childers Earns Upstate's First A-Sun Weekly Honor
Standout freshman pitcher Morgan Childers didn't take long to make a name for herself at Upstate, striking out a school record 18 batters in the season opener against Tusculum on Feb. 13. She can add another milestone to her list of accomplishments after she was named the Atlantic Sun Conference's Pitcher of the Week on March 17. She became the first Upstate softball player to earn a weekly conference award from the A-Sun in this, the first year of membership in NCAA Division I and the A-Sun. She earned the award after posting a 3-1 record with a 0.76 ERA, 36 strikeouts and two shutouts the week of Mar. 10-16.
Spartans At Cyrill Stadium
Upstate has called Cyrill Stadium home since Feb. 13, 2002, when the Spartans opened the season, and the Cyrill Stadium era, with a doubleheader sweep of Southern Wesleyan. Upstate has been strong at home, turning in a 118-35 record in seven-plus seasons at the stadium, a .771 winning percentage at the facility. Upstate's top season in the stadium was in 2006 when the Spartans were 22-4 at home.
Childers Moves Into Top 10
Though not even a full season into her college career, freshman Morgan Childers has already moved into the Top 10 in four career statistical categories. She currently ranks sixth with nine shutouts, seventh with 232 strikeouts and two saves, and tied for 10th with Brittany Rice with 23 wins. In 34 appearances, she has tallied 232 strikeouts and has totaled 10 or more strikeouts in 10 games this season, including a single-game school record 18 against Tusculum in her collegiate debut on Feb. 13, 14 against Furman on Apr. 8 and 13 in the one-hit shutout at Campbell on March 28. With six games remaining in the season, she is four strikeouts shy of matching the single-season school record of 236 held by Maricela Panuco and set during the 2000 season, and one wins from matching the single-season school record of 24 held by Kristy Middagh and set during the 2002 campaign.
Morgan Childers - Record Breaker
Freshman pitcher Morgan Childers had a tremendous start to her collegiate career when she stepped into the circle on Feb. 13 against Tusculum. The righty struck out 18 batters and tossed a no-hitter in her collegiate debut. The 18 strikeouts broke a school record that stood for nearly 16 years. Debra Rozier had struck out 15 batters in a 2-0 shutout of Austin Peay on March 8, 1992.
Spartans In Tournament Play
Upstate has played in two tournaments this spring, going 5-2 in tourney play. The Spartans went 2-2 at the First Pitch Classic hosted by Charlotte Feb. 23-24. Upstate claimed an 8-2 win over Stony Brook in the tournament opener. The Spartans fell twice to Kent State, losing 8-3 on Feb. 23 and 5-0 on Feb. 24. Upstate then went 11 innings, with Morgan Childers pitching all 11 innings, to take a 4-3 victory over Charlotte. Upstate went 3-0 at the Tar Heel Invitational Mar. 8-9, finishing with wins over Lafayette (6-0), James Madison (7-5) and Princeton (6-2).Is, 425 total bases and 87 walks.
Bayer, Berrong In The Hall
Former USC Upstate standout softball players Beth Bayer and Stacey Berrong are the only two members of the softball program to be inducted into the Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame. Berrong was the program's first inductee and was elected to the Hall in 2005. She played for Upstate from 1996-99. She currently ranks among the program's all-time greats in 15 career statistical categories, including topping the list with 46 home runs, 215 RBIs, 425 total bases and 87 walks. Bayer was the program's second and last inductee into the Hall, being elected in 2006. She was a member of the program for just two seasons, but put up impressive numbers. She currently ranks among the all-time career leaders in nine statistical categories. She tops the all-time list with a .799 slugging percentage, ranks second with 28 home runs and third with 79 stolen bases.
Head coach Chris Hawkins was also inducted into the Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame, entering the shrine in 2003. However, with over 460 wins in his career, he was not enshrined because of his accomplishments as a softball coach. Instead, he was elected to the Hall for his exploits as a member of the baseball program from 1986-87. Hawkins was a pitcher for the team after the program was reestablished and moved from a club sport to varsity level. Hawkins became the first Upstate baseball player to be elected the Athletics Hall of Fame at Upstate.
