Spartans Head To Charleston For Mid-Week Battle
4/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 6, 2009
Notes | Live Video | Live Stats
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate returns to the diamond Tuesday afternoon at Charleston Southern in a non-conference doubleheader that starts at 3:00 p.m. Upstate enters the game on a six-game winning streak and with a 21-9 overall record. The Spartans swept Western Carolina and North Florida last week. Charleston Southern enters the doubleheader with a 19-21 overall record after being swept by Liberty in a three-game Big South series over the weekend. Upstate owns a 7-2 lead in the series with Charleston Southern, including a sweep of the Buccaneers last year in Spartanburg. Upstate is currently 4-1 against Big South schools this season.
Fans not in attendance at the game can watch the action live on Big South Sports by visiting www.csusports.com and clicking the television icon on the softball schedule. Fans can also get live statistical updates using the official Charleston Southern Athletics Web site, www.csusports.com.
Looking Back At North Florida
Morgan Childers tossed a pair of gems and Upstate took a couple hard-fought wins in sweeping A-Sun rival North Florida last Saturday at Cyrill Stadium. In game one, the Spartan scored a run on a passed ball in the bottom of the first for the only run of the game for both teams. Childers went the distance, tossing seven innings of two-hit ball and striking out seven to take the win. In game two, Upstate and North Florida were tied at 1-1 after four innings when Childers took to the circle in relief of starter Amber Hamilton. Childers held the Ospreys scoreless for the final four innings and Upstate scored the game-winning run when Melissa Lockey scored on Keri Sarratt's suicide squeeze bunt in the bottom of the eighth as the Spartans took the 2-1 win. It marked the second straight sweep of the Ospreys and Upstate's 14th victory in 15 games this season at Cyrill Stadium.
About The Competition
Charleston Southern enters Tuesday's doubleheader against Upstate with a 19-21 overall record after losing three in a row to Liberty in a Big South series over the weekend. The Buccaneers are 15-9 at home on the season.
CSU hits .267 as a team, owns a 2.82 ERA and fields at a .964 clip. Megan Hall leads the way for the Buccaneers, hitting .363 with 22 RBIs and 26 runs. She has three triples and 10 stolen bases on the year. Gail Matsushima and Kristin Kelleher also hit over .300 for CSU. Sondra Vetter, with a 2.40 ERA and nine wins, and Jamie Wellons, with a 2.46 ERA and 10 wins, lead the Buccaneers in the circle.
Childers Racks Up Second A-Sun Weekly Honor Of The Season
After going 4-0 in four games last week, Morgan Childers took home A-Sun Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time this season. Childers started three of the four games Upstate played last week and got the win in all four. She finished the week with a 0.61 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 23 innings. She earned the wins in both starts at Western Carolina, in the start in the first game against North Florida, and in relief of the second game against North Florida. Prior to this week, Childers earned A-Sun Pitcher of the Week honors on Feb. 23 after tossing a no-hitter and recording three wins with two shutouts in the Campus Suites Spartan Classic. She now has three career A-Sun weekly honors after earning one last year.
Childers On A Streak
Standout pitcher Morgan Childers is on quite a streak for the Spartans. After falling to 10-6 on the year following a loss at Florida Gulf Coast, the sophomore has turned her season around with six-straight wins in the last six games the Spartans have played to improve to 16-6.
Going The Extra Mile
Upstate sure has produced a flare for the dramatic lately with three of the last five games going into extra innings. Luckily, the Spartans are a perfect 3-0 in the last three extra-inning games. Prior to winning games at Stetson and Western Carolina and at home against North Florida in the eighth inning, Upstate was 0-2 on the year in extra innings, losing 1-0 decisions in eight innings to Campbell and East Tennessee State.
Spartans 6-0 In "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 6-0 on the "new season" with sweeps of Stetson, Western Carolina and North Florida. Kim Brasil tops the team during that span with a .500 batting average.
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.
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.
Number Crunching
Junior Crislyn Chewning has made her mark in her first year in the Upstate program. She tops the Spartans with 10 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI outings. She has knocked in four RBIs on two occasions, including Wednesday's four-RBI outing in game one to lead Upstate to a 9-2 win at Western Carolina. Courtney Feldon, Heidi Gibbs and Keri Sarratt top the Spartans by recording seven-game hitting streaks earlier this season. Chewning owns the team's top current streak at four games.
Upstate 68th 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. 31, while Mercer is just ahead of Upstate at No. 65. North Florida, the Spartans' opponent Saturday, is ranked 90th. 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.
