April 13, 2010

Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2

Spartanburg, S.C. - It certainly wasn't pretty, but USC Upstate got game-winning hits from Ericka Harris and Kim Brasil in the bottom of the eighth inning of both games to earn a doubleheader sweep of Charlotte Tuesday afternoon at Cyrill Stadium. The Spartans won game one, 3-2, and game two, 5-4.

Upstate improved to 28-10 with the sweep. The Spartans play host to South Carolina Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in a single game at Cyrill Stadium. It marks the first time the Gamecocks have come to Upstate for softball in the history of the Spartan softball program. Charlotte falls to 27-12 on the year.

Upstate, the nation's leader in defense with a .984 fielding percentage, certainly struggled Tuesday while committing five errors in both games. The miscues led to two unearned runs in the first game and put the Spartans in a precarious situation in the second. In the end, though, Upstate got the key hits when it needed and took the sweep.

"It was the worst defensive games we have played all season," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "We were lucky to win. Normally this time of year we don't have structural breakdowns, but today we did. We didn't execute signs well today. But, when we had the opportunity to get the hits we needed to win the game, we came through. That is certainly a positive and sweeping a good team like Charlotte is a good thing. We will put this defensive performance behind us and go forward."

Morgan Childers went the distance in game one, striking out nine and allowing two unearned runs on three hits to earn the victory and improve, at the time, to 23-5. She then tossed two innings of relief and kept Charlotte off of the scoreboard in the eighth to pick up her second win of the day and improve her record to 24-5. She finished the day with 11 strikeouts in 10 innings, pushing her season total to a league-leading 310.

Charlotte jumped on top of Upstate with an unearned run in the third inning of game one. Whitney Williams singled with Carol Buchan on second. The hit got past Upstate centerfielder Crislyn Chewning and Buchan scored the go-ahead run. The 49ers increased its lead to 2-0 in the fifth when Williams scored on Chewning's fielding error on a fly ball at the warning track.

Upstate, though, battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth when Brasil and Chewning collected back-to-back RBI singles. Charlotte loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the eight, but Childers induced a pop up to short to end the threat. In the bottom of the frame, Upstate put runners on first and third, but Chewning flew out to center and Janna Lewis was thrown out trying to score from third. Harris then stepped up and delivered a single to center to score Brasil from third with the game-winning run.

Brasil and Harris led Upstate at the plate with two hits apiece. They also posted an RBI on the day.

Charlotte again scored first in game two when Keri Palma singled to drive in Buchan in the second inning. Upstate tied the game with a run in the bottom of the third on Chewning's RBI single. The Spartans took a 2-1 lead with a run in the bottom of the sixth when Lewis collected in infield single that drove in the go-ahead run.

Childers entered the game in the seventh. Kendra Mcall doubled to center to drive in the tying run, but a throwing error allowed a second run to score to give Charlotte a 3-2 lead. Teyana Tucker followed with a solo home run to center as the 49ers opened a 4-2 lead.

Upstate, though, rallied in the seventh and tied the game on Katie Zauner's double with one out. Charlotte's game one starter, Emily Jeffery, replaced starter Katy Hackett and got two straight outs the send the game into extra innings.

In the eighth, Childers struck out the final two batters with the go-ahead run at third to give the Spartans a chance to end the game in the eighth, just as they had done in the first game. Using the international tiebreaker rules, Lauren Quevedo was placed on second to start the bottom of the eighth. After two straight strikeouts, Brasil hammered a ball up the middle that tipped off of the glove of a diving Lorena Vela at second and into center field. Quevedo came all the way around to score the game-winning run and deliver the sweep for the Spartans.

Childers allowed three runs on two hits with two strikeouts in two innings of work to earn the win in the second game. Emily Jeffery, who pitched for Upstate as a freshman in 2007 before transferring to Charlotte to start her sophomore season, took the losses in both games and fell to 16-7 on the year. She finished the day with eight strikeouts in nine innings of work.

While Upstate's defense was shaky all day, the Spartans did make some stellar defensive plays. Chewning threw out two runners at the plate from center field and Upstate turned a double play to highlight the play in the field.

Chewning finished the second game with three hits, a run and a RBI, while Brasil collected a pair of hits to lead Upstate at the plate.