Spartans Win First A-Sun Softball Championship
4/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 29, 2008
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate swept Mercer Sunday, doing what it needed to do to put itself into position to win a share of the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season championship. The Spartans then needed to wait two days for Tuesday's doubleheader between Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson to realize its fate. With a Stetson sweep of FGCU Tuesday, Upstate won a share of the regular season championship in its first year playing as a member of Division I and the A-Sun.
"In the 13 years that I have been coach here (Upstate) we never won a Peach Belt Conference championship, and in our first year in Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference we won a share of the championship," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "It was not something I planned or expected in our first year, but I am extremely proud of what our team has accomplished."
Picked to finish ninth in the preseason A-Sun coaches poll, Upstate finished the season with a 16-6 record in the conference. The Spartans split its doubleheader last weekend at Lipscomb and swept Mercer Sunday to move into a tie for second place with Lipscomb. Both Upstate and Lipscomb were looking up at Florida Gulf Coast, which entered Tuesday's doubleheader with Stetson with a 16-4 record. Florida Gulf Coast needed to win just one game to win the championship outright, but Stetson claimed the sweep by scores of 1-0 and 4-3 to put the Eagles at 16-6 in the A-Sun and into a three-way tie for the conference championship.
Upstate actually has a better head-to-head record than either Lipscomb or Florida Gulf Coast. Upstate was 3-1 against the other two schools who will share the 2008 championship. FGCU swept Lipscomb and was swept by the Spartans, earning a 2-2 record. Lipscomb was 1-3 against the other two schools.
Upstate finished the season with a 34-15 overall record, recording impressive non-conference wins over Winthrop, Princeton, James Madison, Charlotte and Furman. In the latest RPI rankings released by the NCAA, Upstate was 58th out of 282 Division I teams. But, it was the performance in the A-Sun that put the Spartans on the map in Division I.
Upstate put itself into contention for the regular season championship on Apr. 4-5. After splitting its first five A-Sun doubleheaders of the year, Upstate made the trip to Jacksonville, Fla., and recorded sweeps of Jacksonville and North Florida. That trip gave the Spartans all the confidence it would need heading into a crucial weekend the following week when Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast came to Spartanburg.
Behind strong performances by a number of Spartans, Upstate swept Stetson on Apr. 11 and, on Senior Day at Cyrill Stadium, swept Florida Gulf Coast. Lauren Quevedo was named the A-Sun Player of the Week the following Monday after belting three home runs, including two grand slams, in the sweeps of Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast. After starting the A-Sun conference slate 5-5, Upstate closed out the league season 11-1, setting up the fateful day Tuesday.
With most of the team gathered in junior outfielder Melissa Lockey's apartment to watch the games via Stetson's athletics website, the Spartans watched as Stetson scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the second game to secure the sweep.
"We've been shouting for the last hour," said Upstate senior Shay Slater, who ended her brilliant four-year career with six career school records. "I think it is awesome. It is exciting that we could come into Division I and win the conference championship in our first year. I am just so happy. We had most all of the team at Mel's apartment watching the game."
Hawkins has steadily built the Upstate softball program into a strong winner, earning four straight trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament prior to moving to Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference this year. In its first year as members of Division I, Upstate is not allowed to participate in the NCAA or Atlantic Sun tournaments. The softball program has been fast-tracked and will be eligible for postseason play in 2010. Winning a conference championship certainly helps make up for not being able to play in the postseason.
"Oh my gosh, this is the best way to end our senior year," said fellow senior Tiffany Pitcher, who ended her career with two career school records. "We are ending on such a sweet note. Coming in being picked to finish ninth and winning a conference championship is awesome and it helps make up for not being able to go to the NCAA Tournament."
Several Spartans had strong seasons in 2008, breaking 11 career, single-season or single-game school records. Slater became the school's all-time leader in runs, stolen bases, at bats, sacrifice flies, games played and games started. Pitcher finished her career as the all-time leader in sacrifice bunts and fielding percentage. Junior Heidi Gibbs steadily moved up the all-time list in more than 10 statistical categories. Freshman pitcher Morgan Childers broke the single-season school record with 27 wins and 258 strikeouts, while breaking the single-game school record with 18 strikeouts in her collegiate debut on Feb. 13. The 27 wins is also the fifth-best single-season effort in A-Sun history. Quevedo, also a freshman, led the team in hitting in the A-Sun with a .403 batting average. Fellow freshmen Courtney Feldon and Kim Brasil also turned in solid seasons for the Spartans.
Upstate joins the women's tennis team and Emily Tangwar as A-Sun Conference champions this year. Tangwar was a three-time individual champion at the A-Sun Indoor Track & Field meet, while the women's tennis team claimed the regular season championship with a perfect 11-0 record in league play.
