March 5, 2009

Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2

Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate pitchers Morgan Childers and Amber Hamilton turned in dominant performances in the circle to lead the Spartans to a sweep of UNC Wilmington with two shutouts in non-conference softball action Thursday afternoon at Cyrill Stadium. Upstate won game one, 5-0, and game two, 3-0.

Upstate improved to 10-2 on the year and will take five days off from competition before playing a doubleheader at Coastal Carolina next Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. UNC Wilmington fell to 1-11 on the season.

"I thought Morgan and Amber did really well today," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "You're not always going to score a lot of runs and it was nice to see our pitchers handle close games and come out with very good performances. We left a lot of runners on base, but we got the hits when we needed them."

Childers (8-1) was simply strong in the circle for the Spartans, tossing a three-hit shutout in game one and picking up the save in game two. She allowed just three hits and struck out 12 to lead the Spartans to the win in the first game. She relieved game two starter, Amber Hamilton, in the sixth inning and struck out four of the six batters she faced to pick up her first save of the season and third of her career. Childers finished the day with 15 strikeouts.

Upstate jumped on top with a run in the second inning of game one. Keri Sarratt drove in pinch runner Melissa Lockey with an RBI-single. The Spartans made it 2-0 in the fourth on Jenna Torbert's RBI-single. With Chidlers in firm control of the game, Upstate broke it open with three runs in the sixth to take a commanding 5-0 lead. All three runs were unearned after Heidi Gibbs reached on a throwing error that would have been the third out. Two runs scored on the throwing error and Crislyn Chewning drove in the third run of the inning on a triple.

Courtney Feldon and Jenna Torbert each finished with two hits in the game to lead the Spartans at the plate.

Hamilton (2-0) tossed five innings of work and allowed just one hit to earn her second victory of the season. The freshman struck out two and induced 11 ground outs in the game. Upstate's hitters staked Hamilton a 1-0 lead in the first inning and between her and Childers, that would be all that the Spartans would need.

In the first, Lauren Quevedo lifted a towering pop fly into shallow right field. UNCW second baseman Morgan Walters caught the ball, but with her momentum taking her backwards, Monica Hall scored from third to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Upstate made it a 2-0 game in the third when Katelyn Molkenthin scored on Sarratt's RBI-single back up the middle. The Spartans ended the scoring with a run in the sixth on Feldon's RBI-double.

Gibbs, Feldon and Quevedo each had two hits in the game, while Sarratt recorded two RBIs on the day to lead the Spartans. Upstate finished the day with 18 hits, but stranded 19 runners, 12 in the second game alone.