University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Mississippi Valley State
Spartans Down Delta Devilettes In Red & Blue Classic
2/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 27, 2009
Oxford, Miss. - Entering the Ole Miss Red & Blue Classic this weekend, the Spartans knew the competition was going to be solid. Two NCAA Tournament teams and an SEC team awaited the Spartans. Behind aggressive base running and solid pitching from Morgan Childers, Upstate got the tournament started on the right foot with a 5-2 victory over Mississippi Valley State Friday morning.
Upstate improved to 8-0 on the season and claimed the win over the Delta Devilettes, a team that entered the tournament with a 13-2 overall record and was coming off an appearance in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Upstate began its game against Ole Miss, but with the score tied at 1 in the bottom of the first inning, rain forced the game to be suspended. Play will resume Saturday morning at 9:00. The altered tournament schedule has yet to be officially posted, though Upstate is scheduled to play Tulsa, an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, Saturday and will take on Ole Miss again Sunday at 11:00 a.m.
The rain that plagued the tournament following completion of the Upstate-Mississippi Valley State game was not a factor in Upstate's tournament opener as the Spartans took the victory to open play Friday.
"Morgan wasn't as sharp as she has been," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "She got behind in the count, but for her to come back and do what she did to get the win was impressive. We played small ball and was forced into a game where we had to execute things to score runs. We did that and ended up being successful."
Upstate didn't take long to open the scoring, plating a run in each of the first and second innings. Lauren Quevedo continued her hot start to the season with an RBI-single in the first inning and Janna Lewis reached on a fielder's choice to score pinch runner Melissa Lockey in the second as Upstate took a 2-0 lead.
The score remained 2-0 for the next two innings until aggressive base running gave the Spartans a 3-0 lead in the fifth. With two outs and pinch runner Katelyn Molkenthin on third, Lauren Quevedo attempted to steal second and got caught in a rundown. Molkenthin stole home on the play to score the eventual game-winning run.
Mississippi Valley State rallied with a pair of runs in the sixth inning. The Delta Devilettes put runners on second and third when Tiana Parks reached on a throwing error by Upstate's shortstop. Two runs scored on the play to allow MVSU to get within one, 3-2. However, Upstate got both runs back in the bottom of the frame on RBI-singles from Keri Sarratt and Heidi Gibbs.
Childers was solid in the circle in picking up her seventh win of the season. She went the distance, scattering four hits and striking out 13. Only one of the two runs scored against her were earned. Lauren Dertling took the loss for MVSU. Gibbs and Sarratt led Upstate at the plate with two hits apiece.
