Spartans Head To The Mountains For Mid-Week Tilt At WCU
3/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 31, 2009
Notes | Gametracker - Game 1 | Gametracker - Game 2
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate travels to Cullowhee, N.C., Wednesday to take on Western Carolina in a non-conference softball battle startingt at 4:00 p.m. The game was pushed back from its original scheduled start time of 3:00 p.m. due to rain that is supposed to fall early in the day Wednesday. Upstate enters the doubleheader with a 17-9 record having swept Stetson last Saturday. Western Carolina enters the game with a 9-18 record after winning its last two games over College of Charleston over the weekend. Wednesday will be the first meeting between Upstate and Western Carolina.
Fans not in attendance at the game can get live statistical updates using Gametracker via the official Upstate Athletics Web site, www.upstatespartans.com.
Looking Back At Stetson
USC Upstate withstood a four-run first inning by Stetson in game one and took a thrilling 5-4 win in extra innings in game two to take a doubleheader sweep of the Hatters last Saturday in DeLand, Fla. In game one, Upstate starter Morgan Childers gave up four runs in the first as Stetson opened a 4-2 lead. However, the sophomore settled down and limited the Hatters to two hits the rest of the way and the Spartan bats delivered seven total runs to give Upstate a 7-4 win. Heidi Gibbs led the way at the plate with three hits with two runs and two RBIs. In the second game, Upstate opened a 4-0 lead before Stetson stormed back into the game with four runs in the fourth to send the game into extra innings. In the eighth, Gibbs reached on an error that scored Kim Brasil from third after Brasil led off the inning with a triple. Childers earned the victories in both games to improve to 12-6 on the year.
About The Competition
Western Carolina enters Wednesday's doubleheader against Upstate with a 9-18 record but on a two-game winning streak. The Catamounts took 2-of-3 from College of Charleston over the weekend, ending a four-game losing streak.
Western owns a .267 team batting average, a 5.13 team ERA and a .943 team fielding percentage on the year. Mollie Fowler and Stephanie Beatty lead the team in hitting. Fowler owns a .348 batting average with four home runs, four doubles and 17 RBIs, while Beatty hits .346 with four doubles and 15 runs. Lauren Ross leads the Catamounts in the circle with six wins, a 4.25 ERA and 37 strikeouts.
Bring Out The Broom
While it took Upstate six conference doubleheaders to earn its first A-Sun sweep last season, the Spartans accomplished their first conference sweep in its fourth doubleheader this season when the Spartans swept Stetson last Saturday. Even more important, though, was that the win in game one ended a four-game losing streak in A-Sun play and the sweep improved Upstate to 3-5 in the conference standings.
Breaking Out Of The Slump
Prior to Saturday's doubleheader at Stetson, Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins told his team that a new season was about to begin and for the team to put the first part of the season behind them. Something must have clicked as the Spartans, who had been in a two-week slump offensively, broke out with 11 runs and 22 hits in the sweep of the Hatters.
Ouch!
Senior Heidi Gibbs has been a mainstay in the lineup since her freshman season and her name appears several times among the all-time leaders in the Upstate record book. However, she may not be so keen on reaching one milestone. Gibbs was hit by a pitch twice in the Spartans' sweep at Stetson Saturday, bringing her career total to 22. She is just eight shy of the all-time record of 30 held by Christine Pirinoli (2002-03).
Number Crunching
Courtney Feldon, Heidi Gibbs and Keri Sarratt top the Spartans with seven-game hitting streaks this season, while Sarratt has the longest-running current streak of five games heading into the doubleheader at Western Carolina. Gibbs and Crislyn Chewning top the club with eight multi-hit games, while Chewning leads the Spartans with five multi-RBI outings.
Gibbs Approaching Doubles Milestone
Senior Heidi Gibbs is so close to the Upstate all-time doubles record she can taste it. The senior from Florence, S.C., has smacked 56 doubles in her career, one shy of the all-time mark of 57 held by Upstate all-time great Krista Altom (2002-05). Gibbs' name appears 14 times on Upstate's career record book.
Sweeping Stetson
While Stetson is traditionally one of the top powers in the A-Sun conference, Upstate has had the fortune of not losing to the Hatters in six games all-time, including the last four games played as A-Sun contests. The Spartans swept Stetson last year in Spartanburg and last Saturday in DeLand, Fla.
Childers Breaks Upstate All-Time Strikeouts Record
Morgan Childers has been a dominant pitcher in the circle since starting her career last season. But, it is rare to see a player just 18 games into her sophomore season break a career record. However, that is just what Childers has done. Her eighth strikeout of the game in game one of Friday's doubleheader with Campbell gave her 381 career strikeouts, breaking the old record of 380 held by Kasey Heron (2003-06). Childers finished the day with 22 strikeouts in 11 innings of work in two appearances.
Mr. 500
With the 7-4 win over Furman in the first game of the doubleheader Wednesday, Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins secured his 500th career victory. In a 14-year career entirely spent at Upstate, Hawkins reached the milestone at home on the field that he helped build. Hawkins is the winningest coach in the history of the athletic department, totaling 540 wins with 38 victories coming as the interim head coach of the volleyball team in 1994. Hawkins is already a member of the Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame as a standout baseball pitcher from 1986-87.
Mitchell Is A Quick Healer
When Ana Mitchell squared to bunt against the College of Charleston in the Campus Suites Spartan Classic, she was hit by the pitch and suffered a broken arm. Originally diagnosed as being out for the season, the junior shortstop showed an uncanny ability to heal her injuries. Under the supervision of renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Steve Singleton, Mitchell was cleared to play last week and saw her first game action at ETSU on March 22. She is 4-for-14 with two runs and two RBIs since her return.
Spartans Break Out The Bats, Best DI School Record
Two times last year Upstate scored 11 runs in a game, once against Charleston Southern and once against UNC Wilmington, to pick up wins on the season. But, the second game of the doubleheader against Gardner-Webb on Feb. 25 proved to be even better as the Spartans pounded out a school Division I record 17 runs against the Bulldogs.
Oh, No-No She Didn't
Morgan Childers took another step in placing her name in the Upstate softball record books on Feb. 21 by becoming the first Upstate pitcher to throw a no-hitter against a Division I program in the 7-0 victory over Presbyterian. Childers struck out 12 en route to the complete-game no-hitter. It marked the second career no-hitter for the sophomore out of Kings Mountain, N.C. She tossed a no-hitter in her collegiate debut last year, striking out seven en route to a 3-0 victory over Tusculum. She now has two of the five no-hitters in school history.
