March 18, 2010

Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2

Spartanburg, S.C. - Erica Harris belted a pair of home runs and Morgan Childers earned two victories in the circle to lead USC Upstate to a doubleheader sweep of Charleston Southern in non-conference softball action Thursday evening at Cyrill Stadium. Upstate win the first game, 3-1, and the second, 5-3.

Upstate improved to 13-4 on the season with the wins and will take two days off from games before heading to Greensboro, N.C., to take on North Carolina A&T Sunday afternoon at 1:00. Charleston Southern fell to 15-14-1 on the year with the losses.

"I was really impressed with how Morgan pitched today," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "She really kept them off balance in the first game and then shut them down in the second game when we needed her. Despite being just a freshman, Ericka has really become a clutch player for us, and Crislyn (Chewning) showed today what kind of a player she is. Getting both of these wins was pretty big for us. I am really excited about taking two wins away from today."

Upstate opened a 3-0 lead and held off a seventh inning rally to pick up the win in game one. Harris, a freshman from Piedmont, S.C., got things started in the third inning when she hammered a pitch over the wall in left with a runner on base to give Upstate a 2-0 lead. It was the first home run of her career. The Spartans added a run in the fifth when Monica Hall drew a walk with the bases loaded.

Childers was in control throughout the whole game, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning. In the seventh, Childers gave up a walk to start the inning and hit the next batter to put runners on first and second. After a strikeout, Childers induced Trea Steele to pop up in foul territory, but the ball was dropped to extend Steele's at bat. Steele singled through the left side to load the bases. Melissa Adams grounded out to first, but a run scored to cut the Upstate lead to 3-1. Childers, though, got Megan Lombard to ground out to end the game.

Childers went the distance, striking out nine and allowing just one unearned run on two hits. Charleston Southern starter Sondra Vetter went five innings and took the loss to fall to 5-7 on the year. Chewning finished the game with two hits and two runs. Harris' homer drove in the eventual game-winning run, the fourth time this season she has collected a game-winning RBI.

In the second game, Upstate jumped on top with three runs in the first inning before Charleston Southern tied the game in the third. Upstate starter Amber Hamilton pitched out of a jam in the first inning to keep Charleston Southern scoreless. The Buccaneers loaded the bases with one out, but Hamilton got a force out at home with the next batter and induced a ground out for the third out to get out of the jam.

Upstate struck in the bottom of the frame and Harris had the big hit. Kim Brasil and Chewning started the inning with back-to-back doubles as Chewning drove in Brasil to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Harris then belted a two-run homer off of the scoreboard in left field to give Upstate a 3-0 lead.

Charleston Southern scored a run in the second inning when Jana Matthews led off the inning with a solo homer. The Buccaneers made it a 3-3 game with two runs in the third inning. Jessica Peters-Brock scored from third when Matthews doubled to right center. Upstate right fielder Katie Zauner picked up the ball and threw it to her cutoff, Lauren Quevedo. Quevedo delivered a strike home, but Harris dropped the ball while applying the tag and Peters-Brock scored. Steele picked up an RBI single later in the inning to tie the game.

Childers entered the game in relief to start the fourth inning. That was all that the Upstate bats needed as inspiration to take the win. The Spartans scored a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings. Katie Zauner singled through the right side to score Chewning in the fifth and Chewning followed in the sixth with an RBI single to give Upstate a 5-3 lead.

Charleston Southern put runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh inning and the runners moved up a base on a wild pitch. However, Childers got Peters-Brock to foul out to end the game as Upstate took the sweep. Childers tossed the final three innings, scattering just two hits with five strikeouts to earn the win, her second of the day. She improved to 11-2 on the year and had 14 strikeouts on the day. The 11 wins on the year increases her career total to 61. She stands just eight shy of the all-time record of 69 held by Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame member Kristy Middagh.

While Harris had the two biggest hits of the day, Chewning was simply outstanding at the plate. She finished the day with five hits, four runs and two RBI, raising her average 50 points on the day to .383 for the year. Brasil, Zauner and Keri Sarratt each had two hits in the second game.