March 18, 2009

Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 1

Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins had been stuck on career win 499 for a week thanks to rain that caused five games to be cancelled last weekend. Wednesday at Cyrill Stadium, the Spartans made him wait no longer as Upstate swept Furman in a doubleheader to give the 14-year head coach his 500th career victory.

Upstate won game one, 7-4, and game two, 6-3, to improve to 13-3 on the year. The Spartans open A-Sun play Friday against Campbell at Cyrill Stadium. Furman fell to 8-15 on the year.

Hawkins claimed his 500th career victory with the win. He is the winningest head coach in the history of the Upstate athletic department.

"There are a lot of people out there who have worked harder than me who have not been lucky enough to win as many games," said Hawkins. "I am fortunate to have won some games and I hope to win some more."

Furman jumped on top with a pair of runs in the first inning of game one on a two-run homer Stephanie Cushing. The Spartans rallied to tie the game with two runs in the second on an RBI double from Courtney Feldon and an RBI-single from Amber Patterson. Upstate went on top with a run in the fifth on Crislyn Chewning's sacrifice fly.

Lana Mackey, Furman's starter, helped her own cause with a two-run homer in the sixth inning to give the Paladins a 4-3 lead. However, Upstate took Furman's punch and countered with four runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 7-4 lead. Kim Brasil opened things up with a sacrifice fly, Gibbs followed with a double down the left field line that plated two, and Chewning followed with an RBI-single to do the damage in the inning.

Upstate starter Morgan Childers went the distance to earn the win and improve to 10-1 on the year. She struck out eight in the complete-game win. Mackey took the loss for Furman and fell to 4-7 on the year.

Upstate rallied in the second game to take the win. Upstate started things off with a run in the second inning when Monica Hall singled to drive in pinch runner Melissa Lockey.

Furman answered with two runs in the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead. Brythe Blankenship did the damage with a two-run double. Upstate, though, immediately answered with four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Furman committed two errors in the inning and all four runs were unearned. Janna Lewis and Brasil both scored when Furman's shortstop threw the ball away trying to force Lewis out at home with the bases loaded. Lauren Quevedo's double scored two runs as Upstate opened a 5-2 lead.

Furman got a run back in the sixth on Abby Robertson's sacrifice fly, but Upstate answered with a run in the bottom of the frame on Brasil's squeeze bunt that scored Keri Sarratt.

Brittany Rice relieved Upstate starter Amber Hamilton in the fifth inning with runners on second and induced a foul out to end the inning. She recorded an out in the sixth and earned the win to improve to 1-1 on the year. Childers relieved Rice in the sixth and tossed 1 2/3 innings to earn her second save of the year. She did not allow a hit and struck out three to earn the save.

Childers finished the day with 11 strikeouts and is just seven shy of tying the Upstate all-time record of 380 held by Kasey Heron (2003-06).

"We were very timid at the plate and our pitchers walked leadoff batters. That is not typical for our team," said Hawkins. "One thing I will say as a positive, for us to grind it out and pick up a couple wins today showed me the players have a lot of heart. A lot of times, teams can go through slumps and take losses. It is good to know that we can go through slumps and get some wins."