University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Tusculum
Upstate Breaks Out The Bats, Sweeps Tusculum
2/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 23, 2010
Box Score - Game One
Box Score - Game Two
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate pounded out 25 hits and got solid pitching to take a doubleheader sweep of Tusculum in non-conference softball action at Cyrill Stadium Tuesday afternoon. The Spartans won game one, 8-0, and game two, 6-1.
Upstate improved to 5-3 on the year, sweeping Tusculum to improve to 11-0 all-time against the Pioneers. Upstate will play host to Siena Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 at Cyrill Stadium. Tusculum fell to 3-3 on the year.
"I was really excited to see our bats come alive and our pitching remain solid throughout both games," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "Morgan was dominant and Blake did a great job in the second game. It was really good to see us finally put a lot of hits together. It took us awhile to get things started in the first game, but once we did, the hits just kept coming. Hopefully, we can take the confidence gained from today and use it tomorrow against a Siena team that is ready to see its first action of the season."
Morgan Childers was again strong for Upstate in the first game. She struck out 12 batters and allowed just one hit with no walks to improve to 4-1 on the year. She has struck out at least 12 batters in all five of her starts this season. She topped the 600-strikeout plateau and now has 602 in her career as Upstate's all-time leader.
Childers overmatched Tusculum throughout the game and waited for the Upstate bats to come alive. The Spartans jumped on top with a run in the third inning on Katie Zauner's RBI single.
However, Upstate had a hard time producing runs as Tusculum's Holli Cadenhead was solid in the circle. She held Upstate to one run until the sixth inning when the Spartan bats caught fire. Upstate ended the game with seven runs in the sixth. Lauren Quevedo cranked her first home run of the season, a two-run shot to start things off. Kim Brasil followed with a bases loaded single to drive in a run, and Zauner added an RBI single which also resulted in a second run to score on the play when Zauner got in a rundown. Brasil later scored on Ericka Harris' single and Quevedo picked up another RBI with a single to right to end the game.
Quevedo finished the game 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run to lead Upstate at the plate as the Spartans collected 14 hits. Zauner, Crislyn Chewning, Keri Sarratt and Lanna Lewis each finished with three hits for the Spartans. Cadenhead took the loss for Tusculum and fell to 2-1 on the year.
Upstate's bats continued to produce in the second game as Upstate pounded out 11 hits and scored six runs to take the 6-1 in. Blake Meredith pitched the best game of her young career, allowing just one run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts to lead Upstate to the win.
Upstate jumped on top with a run in the first inning on Zauner's RBI single. The Spartans made it a 3-0 game with two runs in the second. Brasil collected a two-run double.
Tusculum answered with a run in the top the third when Brittany Hunley singled to drive in a run. Upstate, though plated two runs in the fourth on a two-run homer from Monica Hall and added a run in the fifth on Zauner's RBI double.
The 6-1 cushion was all that Meredith would need. Using tremendous movement and accuracy, the freshman from Post Falls, Idaho, made things difficult for the Tusculum hitters. She retired the last 13 batters she faced to turn on a dominant performance in the circle. She improved to 1-1 on the year. Erin Searcy went the distance for Tusculum, falling to 1-2 on the year.
Hall finished 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored to lead the Upstate offensive attack. Brasil finished with a pair of hits and RBI, while Zauner collected two hits and two RBI. Zauner finished the day with four hits and four RBI.
