Feb. 22, 2009

Box Score

Spartanburg, S.C. - Crislyn Chewning had another strong day at the plate and Lauren Quevedo smacked a solo home run to highlight the offensive production for USC Upstate. And, Morgan Childers earned tournament MVP honors after tossing her second-straight shutout with 11 strikeouts as Upstate claimed a 5-0 victory over College of Charleston in the Campus Suites Spartan Classic softball tournament at Cyrill Stadium. The win was big as the championship game, which would have pitted Upstate against Presbyterian, was cancelled due to the extreme cold and windy conditions and Upstate was declared the tournament champions.

Upstate improved to 5-0 on the year as Childers also improved to 5-0. The Spartans finished the tournament with a 3-0 record as the only undefeated team in the event. Presbyterian took home second place, while UMBC pounded out 17 runs on 13 hits to claim third place over College of Charleston with a 17-1 win.

Upstate jumped on College of Charleston early in the game, plating three runs in the bottom of the first inning. After Heidi Gibbs reached on a single, Amber Patterson grounded to third. However, the Charleston third baseman's throw went wide of the mark and Gibbs scored all the way from first and Patterson wound up on third. Chewning grounded out to second to score Patterson and Quevedo delivered a shot over the left field wall to give the Spartans a 3-0 lead.

Upstate made it 4-0 in the second after Patterson singled to drive in pinch runner Melissa Lockey. The Spartans ended the scoring in the fifth on Chewning's solo home run, her second of the tournament.

The 5-0 lead was more than enough for Childers. She allowed just two base runners to advance past first in the entire game and walked just one Cougar on the day. She gave up just two hits for the complete-game win. She won all three games in the tournament, combining for a 0.67 ERA with 38 strikeouts, two shutouts and a no-hitter.

"I was really proud of the way we handled the adversity on dealing with our injuries," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "We inserted people into the lineup and they delivered. I am proud of the TEAM for that. Morgan showed how dominant she can be in this tournament. To get shutouts against teams that can hit is impressive. I wish Sunday's weather was better and we didn't have the rash of injuries that we did. But, all in all, it was a good tournament all around and I am happy that we came away with the championship. I thought we did some very good things this weekend."

Joining Childers on the all-tournament team from Upstate were Crislyn Chewning, Courtney Feldon and Amber Patterson. Also named to the all-tournament team were Presbyterian's Laura Hensley, Lindsey Trombley and Erin Stewart, UMBC's Amanda Fefel and Malorie Weller, and Charleston's Kristie Shifflett.

Presbyterian (3-6) vs. UMBC (1-4)
Presbyterian turned a close 1-1 game into a rout with seven runs in the top of the fifth to take an 8-2 victory over the University of Maryland Baltimore County Sunday afternoon at Cyrill Stadium. The win pushed PC into the championship game of the tournament and the Blue Hose settled for second place. Laura Hensley tossed five innings to pick up her third win of the season, striking out four and allowing one run. She also delivered two hits for the Blue Hose. Taylor Staten drove in a pair of runs for PC. Lauren Brummell collected a pair of hits for UMBC.

UMBC (1-4) vs. College of Charleston (4-9)
With a steady 20 mile per hour wind and temperatures dropping into the upper-30s, UMBC exploded offensively with 13 runs in the first three innings to take a 17-1 win over College of Charleston in the third-place game of the Campus Suites Spartan Classic. The Retrievers opened a 4-1 lead after two innings, then went off in the third, plating nine runs to open a 13-1 lead. Malorie Weller finished the game 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs. Amanda Fefel was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a run, while Julia Culotta added two hits, two RBIs and two runs. Stephanie Weigman went the distance, tossing five innings and allowing one run with seven strikeouts to lead UMBC to the win.