Spartans Play Host To Music City Foes This Weekend
4/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 9, 2009
Notes | ASun.TV
Gametracker - Belmont Game 1 | Gametracker - Belmont Game 2
Gametracker - Lipscomb Game 1 | Gametracker - Lipscomb Game 2
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate returns to the diamond for a pair of key A-Sun battles this weekend as the Spartans play host to Belmont Friday and Lipscomb Saturday at Cyrill Stadium. The start time for the Belmont doubleheader has been moved up to 2:30 p.m. to avoid potential rain that is forecasted for the Spartanburg area Friday evening. Upstate enters the weekend with a 22-10 overall record and a 5-5 mark in the A-Sun. The Spartans have won their last four A-Sun games with sweeps at Stetson and against North Florida at home. Belmont stands 9-17 overall and 1-5 in the A-Sun entering Friday, while Lipscomb enters the weekend with a 25-8 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the conference. The series between Upstate and Belmont is tied at 1-1, while the series between the Spartans and Lipscomb is also tied at 1-1.
Fans not in attendance at the doubleheaders can watch the action live on ASun.TV by visiting the service's Web site at www.ASun.TV and clicking the USC Upstate tab. Fans can also get live statistical updates using Gametracker via the official Upstate Athletics Web site, www.upstatespartans.com.
Looking Back At Charleston Southern
Upstate was held scoreless for the first five innings, but the Spartans scored a run in each of the sixth and seventh innings to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win in game one of the doubleheader at Charleston Southern Tuesday. In the nightcap, Charleston Southern scored three runs in the fourth and five runs in the fifth to take an 8-0 win in five innings. In game one, Morgan Childers was again dominant to secure her 17th win of the season. She finished with 11 strikeouts and allowed just two hits in the complete-game win. Heidi Gibbs led the Spartans with three hits in the game, while Kim Brasil drove in the game-winning run with a single in the seventh.
About The Competition
Belmont enters Friday's A-Sun doubleheader at Upstate with a 9-17 overall record and a 1-5 mark in the A-Sun. The Bruins have dropped the last five games of the year, including being on the wrong end of a sweep by Campbell.
Belmont hits .248 as a team, owns a 4.81 ERA and has a .939 fielding percentage. Dawn Thoni leads the Bruins with a .317 batting average and 17 runs scored. Sammi Parks and Devon Schmidt see the majority of innings for Belmont. Parks has three wins with a 4.76 ERA and a team-high 71 strikeouts. Schmidt has five wins with a 2.80 ERA.
Lipscomb enters the weekend scheduled to play at East Tennessee State Friday. The Bisons are currently in fourth place in the A-Sun, two games ahead of Upstate in fifth. Lipscomb hits .299 as a team, owns a 1.68 ERA and has a .973 fielding percentage.
Kellie Sirus leads Lipscomb at the plate with a lofty .441 batting average. She tops the club with 45 hits, 26 RBIs and 11 doubles. Lauren Dortwegt hits .379 with 26 runs and three triples. Whitney Kiihnl tops the Bisons in the circle with 11 wins and a 1.27 ERA. She has tossed 116.0 innings with 130 strikeouts.
Spartans Look To Climb A-Sun Standings
With Upstate winning seven of its last eight games, including four-straight against A-Sun foes, the Spartans look to move up the conference standings with a pair of doubleheaders this weekend. To do so, Upstate must improve on its results against Belmont and Lipscomb from a year ago. The Spartans split with both teams last season. Belmont came to Cyrill Stadium early in the year, while the Lipscomb doubleheader was late in Nashville as Upstate made a run at earning a share of the A-Sun regular season championship with Lipscomb and Florida Gulf Coast.
Gibbs Queen of The Doubles
With a double in the third inning of game one of the doubleheader at Charleston Southern, 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 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.
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 264 hits, 17 shy if the all-time mark of 281 held by Krista Altom. With 13 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 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 seven-straight wins in her last seven outings to improve to 17-6. Her seven straight wins coincided with Upstate's seven-game winning streak which was snapped in the second game of the doubleheader at Charleston Southern. Childers did not pitch in the second game.
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 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.
Gibbs Gets Rung Up
While strikeouts are not celebrated as an accomplishment for a hitter, senior Heidi Gibbs' strikeout in the first inning of game two in the doubleheader at Charleston Southern was monumental. It was just the first time all season long that she has struck out. That's right, just one strikeout in 106 at bats on the year. While that sounds amazing, it is actually nothing new for Gibbs. She has routinely been one of the toughest players in the nation to strike out. As a freshman in 2006, she was the fifth-toughest player to strike out in all of Division II. Last year, she was the 22nd-toughest player to strike out in all of Division I. For her career, she has struck out 23 times in 675 at bats.
Spartans 7-1 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 7-1 on the "new season" with sweeps of Stetson, Western Carolina and North Florida. Upstate split its doubleheader at Charleston Southern as the only blemish in the "new season."
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 14-1 at home this season with the only loss coming in a 1-0 decision to Campbell in extra innings. 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 126-36 record in seven-plus seasons at the stadium, a .778 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.
