Upstate Wraps Up First D-I Season Sunday At Mercer
4/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 26, 2008
Complete Upstate at Mercer Game Notes in PDF Format 
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate closes out its first season in NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference Sunday with a key A-Sun doubleheader at Mercer in Macon, Ga. Gametime is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start. Upstate enters the doubleheader in third place in the A-Sun with a 14-6 record. The Spartans are 32-15 overall. Mercer enters the games with a 31-23 overall record and a 10-9 mark in the A-Sun, good for seventh in the league standings. The games can be seen live over the internet for a fee by accessing ASun.TV at www.ASun.TV/uscupstate. Fans can also get live statistical updates by visiting the official Mercer Athletics website at www.mercerbears.com and clicking on the live stats link at the top of the home page.
Recapping Presbyterian
Morgan Childers broke her third record this season, capturing her school record 25th win of the season in leading Upstate to a 7-0 shutout in game one of the doubleheader at Presbyterian Thursday. The 25 wins breaks the old mark of 24 held by Kristy Middagh and set during the 2002 season. Presbyterian answered, though, with a 9-3 win in the second game.
In game one, Childers struck out 10 batters and gave up two hits to dominate PC. Tiffany Pitcher and Lauren Quevedo each had two hits and two RBIs to lead Upstate at the plate, while Shay Slater scored three runs. In game two, Presbyterian scored five runs in the bottom of the first and three more in the bottom of the second to open a commanding 8-0 lead. Courtney Feldon and Kim Brasil lead the way for the Spartans at the plate, each finishing with three hits. Feldon accounted for two RBIs in the game.
About The Competition
Mercer will close out its regular season with the doubleheader against Upstate Sunday. The Bears stand 31-23 overall and 10-9 in the A-Sun. Mercer split its doubleheader with East Tennessee State Friday, dropping a 5-4 decision in game one and rebounding for a 5-3 win in game two.
Mercer is hitting .261 as a team on the year. The Bears are led by Jamie Madruga, who hits .426 on the year. She has 11 home runs, 17 doubles, four triples, 45 RBIs and 41 runs scored. Holly Oglesbee hits .348 with 13 doubles and 27 RBIs. Mercer owns a 3.21 team ERA on the season. Jenni Holtz and Lacey Richardson pitch the majority of the innings for the Bears. Holtz leads the way with a 14-9 record and a 2.15 ERA in 156.1 innings pitched. She also has tallied 195 strikeouts on the year. Richardson is 10-7 with a 3.32 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 105.1 innings.
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For the past three seasons, the end of the regular season meant gearing up for the postseason conference and NCAA Division II tournaments for USC Upstate. However, with the school's move to NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference, the Spartans will not be able to participate in any postseason tournament until 2010. Three seniors - Vanesa Flores, Tiffany Pitcher and Shay Slater - on this year's team will play their final college games Sunday at Mercer. Flores was the co-Player of the Year in the Peach Belt last season and has hit 25 home runs in two seasons for the Spartans. She is a career .334 hitter with 87 RBIs and was an All-America, All-Region and All-Conference selection last season. Pitcher is the program's all-time leader in sacrifice bunts and fielding percentage and ranks among the all-time leaders in six other statistical categories. She is a career .296 hitter with 93 RBIs and was an All-Region selection as a freshman. Slater is the program's all-time leader in games played, games started, runs scored, stolen bases, at bats and sacrifice flies, and ranks among the all-time leaders in nine other statistical categories. She is a career .371 hitter with 124 RBIs, 199 runs and 131 stolen bases and was an All-America, All-Region and All-Conference selection a year ago.
Spartans 58th In Latest RPI
In the latest NCAA RPI ranking released by the NCAA yesterday, Upstate is ranked No. 58, down one spot from last week's ranking of No. 57. The Spartans took a big step up the RPI ladder in the RPI ranking released by the NCAA last week, moving up 37 spots to No. 57 (see complete A-Sun list at left). Upstate is the third-highest A-Sun school in the RPI listing, trailing Florida Gulf Coast at No. 37 and Kennesaw State at No. 53. There are six A-Sun schools ranked in the top 100. Upstate is also ahead of several BCS conference and other major Division I schools in the top 100 including Cal State Fullerton, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Oregon, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Louisville, Oregon State, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Iowa State, UNLV and Utah.
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 .292 batting average, fourth in pitching with a 2.31 ERA and sixth with a .961 fielding percentage.
Individually, Courtney Feldon ranks sixth in the A-Sun with a .380 batting average, while Heidi Gibbs ranks seventh with a .368 batting average. Feldon ranks eighth in the conference with a .459 on-base percentage, while Shay Slater ranks fourth with 25 stolen bases. Kim Brasil is tied for second in the league with four triples. In the circle, Morgan Childers tops the league with 25 wins, four more than her closest competitor. In addition, she tops the A-Sun with a .172 opponent's batting average and ranks second with 248 strikeouts and 10 shutouts, fourth with a 1.39 ERA and fifth with 201.1 innings pitched.
Freshmen Gettin' `Er Done
Upstate's strong first season in NCAA Division I and the A-Sun has been accomplished by strong veteran leadership by Shay Slater, Tiffany Pitcher, Vanesa Flores and Heidi Gibbs, among others. However, the freshmen have played just as valuable a part with their performance on the field. Courtney Feldon currently leads the Spartans with a .380 batting average. Lauren Quevedo is hitting .315 overall and leads the team in hitting during A-Sun games with a .411 batting average. Feldon and Quevedo top the team with seven home runs apiece, while Feldon leads the Spartans with 32 RBIs. Kim Brasil ranks fifth on the team in hitting with a .298 average, collecting 33 runs and 20 RBIs while ranking second in the A-Sun with four triples. Finally, Morgan Childers leads the team and the league with 25 wins in the circle. She also ranks second in the A-Sun with 248 strikeouts and ranks among the league leaders with a 1.39 ERA.
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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 17 multi-hit games this season. She has notched two hits on 14 occasions and three hits three times. Shay Slater and Kim Brasil are tied for second with 14 multi-hit games. Three players - Kim Brasil, Lauren Quevedo and Courtney Feldon - are tied for the team lead with seven 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. Amber Patterson owns the longest active hitting streak at eight games.
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 fifth with 10 shutouts, sixth with 248 strikeouts, seventh with two saves and ninth with 25 wins. In 36 appearances, she has tallied 237 strikeouts and has totaled 10 or more strikeouts in 11 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.
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.
In addition to breaking the single-game school record for strikeouts, Childers has also broken two single-season school records. With 25 wins, she has broken the old record of 24 held by Kristy Middagh and set during the 2002 season. Her 248 strikeouts is now 12 more than the old record of 236 held by Maricela Panuco and set during the 2000 season.
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.
