Upstate, South Carolina Meet For First Time
4/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 14, 2009
Notes | Audio | Gametracker
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate makes the short trip down I-26 to Columbia Wednesday evening to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks for the first time in school history in a single game starting at 5:00 p.m. at Beckham Field. The Spartans enter the game with a 24-12 record after going 3-3 last week. South Carolina enters the game with a 17-17 record after taking 2-of-3 at No. 4 Alabama over the weekend in SEC play.
Fans not in attendance at the game can listen to the action live on South Carolina All-Access by visiting the official South Carolina Athletics Web site at www.gamecocksonline.com. Fans can also get live statistical updates using Gametracker via the official Upstate Athletics Web site, www.upstatespartans.com.
Looking Back At Belmont, Lipscomb
It was a tale of two days as Upstate opened the weekend with a doubleheader sweep of Belmont Saturday afternoon and closed the weekend by being swept by Lipscomb Saturday afternoon. Against Belmont, Upstate hammered out 16 runs on 16 hits to take the sweep. Morgan Childers tossed 11 innings of work with 15 strikeouts, picking up the complete game win in game two to earn the win in both games. Upstate used a six-run third inning in game one and six-run fourth inning in game two as the Spartans claimed 10-2 and 6-2 wins over the Bruins. The bats did not come alive Sunday in the sweep by Lipscomb as the Spartans fell, 9-1, in game one and, 3-0, in game two. Lipscomb scored all nine runs of game one in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. In game two, the Spartans could not capitalize on a bases loaded opportunity in the fifth inning as the Lady Bisons held on for the win and sweep.
About The Competition
South Carolina enters Wednesday's game against Upstate with a 17-17 overall record and a 4-14 mark in the SEC. The Gamecocks have been on a bit of a hot streak lately, winning four of its last six games, including 2-of-3 from then-No. 4 Alabama. South Carolina has played five common opponents with Upstate. The Gamecocks are 6-3 against common opponents Charlotte (0-1), Coastal Carolina (1-0), College of Charleston (2-1), Ole Miss (1-1) and North Florida (2-0). Upstate is a collective 5-3 against the same opponents.
South Carolina hits .220 as a team, owns a 3.31 ERA and has a .969 fielding percentage. Jill Semento hits .279 and leads the Gamecocks with 16 RBIs on the year. Audrey Boyles leads South Carolina in the circle with a 10-7 record and a 2.51 ERA. She has struck out 116 batters in 117 innings. Kierstyn White also sees significant action in the circle. She is 6-2 with a 2.86 ERA in 63 2/3 innings.
Meeting With Gamecocks One Of Many Against Palmetto State Schools
For the first time in the history of the softball program, USC Upstate will take on South Carolina in a battle between schools in the same university system. After Wednesday's game, Upstate will have played every other Division I softball program in the state except for S.C. State. The Spartans are a collective 31-31 all-time against DI schools from the Palmetto State: Charleston Southern (8-3), Coastal Carolina (2-7), College of Charleston (1-0), Furman (9-15), Presbyterian (10-5) and Winthrop (1-1).
Gibbs Queen of The Doubles
With a double in the third inning of game one of the doubleheader at Charleston Southern on April 7, senior right fielder Heidi Gibbs tied the school's all-time doubles record. She now has 57 doubles in her career and is tied for the record with Krista Altom.
Childers Racks Up Two A-Sun Weekly Honors In `09
Morgan Childers has earned A-Sun Pitcher of the Week honors two times this season. She earned her first weekly honor of the week on Feb. 23 after tossing a no-hitter against Presbyterian and going 3-0 with two shutouts in the Campus Suites Spartan Classic. She earned her second honor on Apr. 6 after going 4-0 with wins in both games of the doubleheaders at Western Carolina and at home against A-Sun foe North Florida. Childers has three career A-Sun Pitcher of the Week honors. She was the A-Sun Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year last season, the first time in conference history that a player earned both honors in the same season. She was also a first team all-conference and second team all-region selection.
Gibbs Moving Up All-Time Records List
Senior Heidi Gibbs has had quite an accomplished career at Upstate. A look at the record book shows just what kind of a career she has had. She ranks among the all-time greats in 14 career statistical categories. She is tied for the top spot on the doubles list with 57. She is approaching the top spot in a few more categories. She ranks third all-time with 266 hits, 15 shy if the all-time mark of 281 held by Krista Altom. She is just three hits away from second place on the all-time list. With nine games left on the schedule, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that she could reach the mark. She also ranks in the top-3 all-time in games started, at bats, runs, walks, stolen bases and hit-by-pitch.
Childers, Payne Summer Teammates
Upstate standout pitcher Morgan Childers and South Carolina's Ashton Payne were teammates last summer on the Virginia Legends U23 squad that won the ASA National Championship in Auburn, Ala.
Spartans Score Consistently
Upstate has outscored its opponents 158-101 on the year and have done so by spreading out the damage throughout several innings. The Spartans have scored 20 or more runs in each of the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings on the year. The fourth inning is the most productive inning with Upstate scoring 32 runs on the year and holding a plus-22 run differential in the frame.
Number Crunching
Junior Crislyn Chewning has made her mark in her first year in the Upstate program. She tops the Spartans with 11 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI outings. She has knocked in four RBIs on two occasions, including last Wednesday's four-RBI outing in game one to lead Upstate to a 9-2 win at Western Carolina. Heidi Gibbs tops the club with four three-hit games. Gibbs and Keri Sarratt top the Spartans by recording seven-game hitting streaks earlier this season.
Spartans 9-3 On "New Season"
Prior to the A-Sun doubleheader at Stetson on March 28, Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins told his team the "new season" had started and to put whatever struggles the team had been mired in behind them. The Spartans are currently 9-3 on the "new season" with sweeps of Stetson, Western Carolina, North Florida and Belmont.
Home, Sweet Home
Upstate loves playing at the friendly confines of Cyrill Stadium and the Spartans' performance at home this season has been outstanding. Upstate is currently 16-3 at home this season. Upstate has called Cyrill Stadium home since Feb. 13, 2002, when the Spartans opened the season, and the Cyrill Stadium era, with a doubleheader sweep of Southern Wesleyan. Upstate has been strong at home, turning in a 128-38 record in seven-plus seasons at the stadium, a .771 winning percentage at the facility. Upstate's top season in the stadium was in 2006 when the Spartans were 22-4 at home.
Upstate 69th In NCAA RPI
In the first RPI ranking released by the NCAA this season, Upstate comes in at No. 68 out of 284 Division I schools. The Spartans are the third-highest ranked A-Sun team in the ranking. Florida Gulf Coast is the highest ranked conference team at No. 25, while Mercer is ahead of Upstate at No. 53. Belmont, Upstate's opponent Friday, is ranked 219th, while Lipscomb, the Spartans' opponent Saturday, is ranked 74th. The Spartans finished last year ranked 76th and the sixth-highest team in the A-Sun. However, Upstate was the third-highest ranked conference team at the completion of regular season play and slipped three positions following the A-Sun and NCAA tournaments.
Chewning Hits For The Cycle... Sort Of
While it is not an official stat, center fielder Crislyn Chewning hit for the doubleheader cycle last Wednesday at Western Carolina. She was 3-for-3 with a walk in the first game, recording a single, double and triple in order before walking her fourth time up. She knocked a solo home run in the second game giving her the doubleheader cycle.
Night Time Is The Right Time
Upstate is a strong 5-1 in games that start after 5:00 p.m. this season. The Spartans have won five straight night games with wins against Furman and Campbell at home and at Charlotte, Stetson and Western Carolina.
