March 20, 2009

Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2

Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate standout pitcher Morgan Childers fanned 22 Campbell batters during the doubleheader, but it was strikeout number eight of the day that cemented her name atop the school's record books as the sophomore became the Spartans' all-time strikeouts leader. At the end of the day, Upstate and Campbell split their A-Sun doubleheader with the Camels taking game one, 1-0, in extra innings, while Upstate win game two, 6-2.

Childers recorded her record-breaking strikeout in the fourth inning, retiring Christina Melton. The strikeout gave her 381 strikeouts for her career. She finished the first game with 14 strikeouts and added eight more in the second game to earn the save to finish with 22 on the day. She now has 395 career strikeouts, breaking the old record of 380 set by Kasey Heron (2003-06).

"I'm really excited (about the record)," said Childers. "If it wasn't for our hitters putting runs on the board, I couldn't throw the pitches I throw. I appreciate what Coach Ochoa (assistant coach Ciria Ochoa) does and the decisions she makes in what to throw.

"I knew I was close to the record, but I didn't know I was as close as I was. My first concentration is to win the game and the strikeouts are a plus."

"It is phenomenal that someone has broken a record in just a year and a half," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "For it to be the strikeouts record, it is a tremendous honor for a pitcher. More so than her pitching, she is the best person I believe I have ever met in that she is polite, courteous and her character is far beyond her age. She is the perfect teammate and I am proud of her."

While the night belonged to Childers in putting her name atop the record book for strikeouts, the doubleheader was a hard-fought split. Childers and Campbell starter Brittany Stanley engaged in a classic pitchers duel that went into extra innings. In the end, Taylor McGee's solo home run in the eighth inning gave Campbell the 1-0 victory.

Both Campbell and Upstate had an opportunity in the early innings crack the scoreboard, but Childers and Stanley pitched out of jams. Campbell put runners on second and third with two outs in the third inning, but Childers struck out Karlie Love to end the inning. Upstate put runners on second and third with one out in the fourth, but Stanley induced a pop out and struck out Lauren Quevedo for the final out to end the threat.

The game headed to extra innings and McGee lifted a ball over the wall in center field to give Campbell a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth inning. It marked just the seventh hit of the day for the two teams combined. Upstate hit three-straight ground outs in the bottom of the eighth as Campbell and Stanley took the win.

Stanley improved to 5-1 with the win. She struck out two and allowed just three Upstate hits. Childers, despite scattering four hits and striking out 14, took the loss to fall to 10-2 on the year.

"We pitched and played defense about as well as we possibly could," said Hawkins. "We couldn't get the hit we needed to in the first game. I give a lot of credit to Campbell because they have a very good pitcher, they didn't make mistakes and they got the key hit. Very few times has Morgan lost a game, period. It was a good win for them and we rebounded in the second game."

While Childers took the hard loss in game one, she played a big part in Upstate's victory in game two. She tossed three innings of relief, striking out eight of the nine batters she faced to earn the save as Upstate took the second game, 6-2.

Upstate jumped on top with a pair of runs in the first inning on Quevedo's RBI-single and Crislyn Chewning's run after a throwing error by Campbell's catcher. Campbell evened the game in the second with a pair of solo home runs by Stanley and Robin Leathers. However, Upstate took a 4-2 lead with two runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 4-2 lead. Janna Lewis and Chewning drove in the runs in the inning.

Upstate got a run in each of the fourth and fifth innings to open a 6-2 lead. Kim Brasil scored on a double steal in the fourth and Amber Patterson scored on a double play in the fifth.

Upstate starter Amber Hamilton tossed four innings, allowing two runs on five hits to earn the victory. She improved to 3-1 on the year. Childers relieved Hamilton in the fifth inning and was simply dominant in striking out eight of the nine batters she faced to earn her third save of the season.

Brasil, Quevedo and Sarratt each had two hits to lead Upstate at the plate in game two. Upstate stands 14-4 overall and 1-1 in the A-Sun. The Spartans travel to Johnson City, Tenn., to take on East Tennessee State University Sunday afternoon at 2:00. Campbell is 18-7 overall and 4-2 in the league.