April 14, 2010

Spartanburg, S.C. - The USC Upstate softball team and pitcher Morgan Childers continue to rank among the nation's leaders in several statistical categories in the latest statistical ranking released by the NCAA. For the third straight week, Upstate leads the nation in defense, while Childers ranks in the top five in six statistical categories.

The latest statistical ranking takes into account games played through last Sunday. They do not reflect yesterday's action in the Spartans' doubleheader sweep of Charlotte. In the report, Upstate topped the nation with a .984 fielding percentage. Despite uncharacteristically committing five errors yesterday, the Spartans still own the nation's top defense with a .981 fielding percentage entering today's game with South Carolina.

Morgan Childers ranks third with 12.4 strikeouts per inning and hits allowed per seven inning game, fourth with a 0.87 ERA, 22 wins (24 now) and 299 strikeouts (310 now), and fifth with five shutouts.

In addition to Childers' tremendous success in the circle, Kim Brasil ranks 23rd in the nation in doubles per game while Crislyn Chewning is the 24th-toughest player to strikeout.