Childers Named A-Sun Pitcher Of The Week
4/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 27, 2009
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate standout pitcher Morgan Childers has been named the A-Sun Pitcher of the Week after recording three wins last week and breaking her own single-season strikeouts record.
Childers, a sophomore from Kings Mountain, N.C., earned her fourth career A-Sun weekly honor and the third of the season after collecting wins at Appalachian State, Kennesaw State and Mercer last week. She made four appearances with a 3-1 record, 0.26 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings of work.
Childers began the week with a complete game win at Appalachian State, giving up just one earned run in the 8-2 victory over the Moutnaineers. She struck out nine and scattered just four hits. She followed that performance with seven strikeouts to tie her own single-season strikeouts record at 258 in the first game at Kennesaw State. She tossed 4 2/3 innings before leaving the game after allowing three unearned runs. The unearned runs came as a result of two costly errors in the fifth inning. She came back in the second game of the doubleheader and went the distance in eight innings to earn the 1-0 win. She was masterful against the Owls, giving up just four hits and striking out 11 to take the win. She followed her 12 2/3 innings of work at Kennesaw with a seven inning gem the next day at Mercer. She went the distance with eight strikeouts, three hits and no earned runs to lead Upstate to a 2-1 win over the Bears.
With 35 strikeouts on the week, Childers broke her own single-season strikeouts record, eclipsing the 258 she tallied last year with 277 this season. She now owns all three key strikeout records at Upstate, collecting 535 career strikeouts, 277 single-season strikeouts and 18 single-game strikeouts. She was named the A-Sun Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year last season and was named to the all-conference and all-region team. She was the preseason pitcher of the year in the conference this season. She finished 2009 with a 23-9 record with a 1.64 ERA, six shutouts, four saves and a .186 opponent batting average. She leads the A-Sun in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched and opponent batting average, while ranking fourth in ERA.
