Spartans Host Buccaneers In Key A-Sun Series
4/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 24, 2010
Game Notes | ASun.TV
Gametracker - Game 1 | Gametracker - Game 2
Spartanburg, S.C. - The USC Upstate softball team is in a battle to secure one of six spots in the A-Sun Tournament and will play host to East Tennessee State in a key conference series Sunday afternoon at 1:00 on Senior Day at Cyrill Stadium. The Spartans enter the doubleheader with an 8-8 record in A-Sun play, tied with two other teams for sixth place in the league standings, but in the fifth position for a spot in the league tournament since Florida Gulf Coast can't compete in the tourney. Upstate is 33-12 overall. ETSU enters the game with an 18-32 overall record and a 5-13 mark in the conference. ETSU owns a 3-1 advantage all-time over Upstate. The Spartans will honor seniors Crislyn Chewning, Monica Hall and Keri Sarratt in a ceremony between games.
Fans not in attendance at the games can follow the action online at www.upstatespartans.com, the official Upstate Athletics Web site. Live statistical updates are available for free using Gametracker, while live video will be available for a fee at www.ASun.TV and clicking the Upstate tab for ordering instructions.
Looking Back At Winthrop
Monica Hall collected three hits in Upstate's 1-0 shutout in game one and Morgan Childers earned a win and a save as the Spartans swept a non-conference doubleheader from Winthrop on Wednesday. Hall posted three hits in the first game and drove in Kim Brasil with the game-winning run in the seventh to secure the win for the Spartans. Childers picked up her 24th complete game and 13th shutout of the season with the win. She struck out eight in a strong performance. Hall was not done in the second game. She drove in the eventual game-winning run on a two-run single in the sixth. Amber Hamilton started the game and tossed five solid innings before giving way to Childers. Hamilton earned the win after giving up just three hits and no runs. Childers tossed two innings of relief with three strikeouts to earn her first save of the season and the seventh of her career to move into sole possession of second place on Upstate's career list. Lauren Quevedo and Keri Sarratt each picked up a pair of hits to lead the Spartans at the plate in game two.
About The Competition
East Tennessee State enters Sunday's doubleheader with an 18-32 overall record and a 5-13 mark in the A-Sun. The Buccaneers have lost 12 of the last 16 games, but are coming off of a strong performance against North Carolina Central on Friday when they claimed a sweep with a 17-1 and 18-5 drubbing of the Eagles.
ETSU ranks fifth in the A-Sun with a .260 batting average. Cheniece Cason leads the way with a .368 batting average, which ranks third in the A-Sun. She tops the club with 41 runs, 63 hits and four triples. Lucy Schneider hits .290 with a team-best 12 doubles and 27 RBI. The Bucs have hit 20 home runs on the year.
ETSU ranks 10th in the A-Sun with a 4.12 ERA. Jessica Duncan is the ace of the staff, though Darci Gilbert, Marissa Hardy and Shelby Morris all see significant action. Duncan tops the club with a 2.94 ERA, eight wins and 72 strikeouts. Gilbert has a 4.08 ERA with four wins, while Hardy owns a 4.89 ERA with four wins and ranks second with 68 strikeouts. The Bucs field at a .963 percentage.
Senior Salute
Sunday will be a special day for three Upstate seniors who are winding down their careers as Spartans. Crislyn Chewning, Monica Hall and Keri Sarratt will be honored in a ceremony between games of the doubleheader. All three have played key roles for Upstate throughout their time in a Spartan uniform.
Chewning has been a leader since she stepped into the starting spot in center field. She is an amazing defensive player with tremendous range and a gun for an arm. She has seven outfield assists in her two years in the program, including five this season. A .308 hitter last year, she has been on fire at the plate this season. She leads the A-Sun in hitting with a .381 batting average and hits .408 in A-Sun play.
Hall has been a versatile player for the Spartans, playing the middle infield positions and in the outfield in her two seasons in the program. She has come up big for Upstate at the plate this season, hitting .317 with nine doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI. She is also a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts.
Sarratt has been a key contributor since her freshman season in 2007. She grabbed the starting spot at third as a freshman before suffering a season-ending knee injury. It took more than a year for her to get back to 100 percent following surgery, but regained her starting spot at third last year and has remained in the position since. She has simply been an outstanding defensive player, ranking among the league leaders in fielding percentage throughout the season. She has also been unselfish at the plate, tallying 13 sacrifice bunts in the last two seasons.
Battling For A Spot In The A-Sun Tournament
After Campbell picked up a sweep of ETSU earlier this week, the Camels moved into a tie with Upstate and Jacksonville at .500 in the league standings. North Florida, at 9-7, is just above the three teams in the standings. The last couple weeks of the season are sure to be interesting as teams jockey for position. Upstate has just two series remaining, Sunday against ETSU and May 8 at Campbell.
Childers Tops Nation For Wins
For the third week this season, junior pitcher Morgan Childers leads the nation in a category in the latest statistical ranking released by the NCAA. She tops the nation with 28 wins, tied for the top spot with Longwood's Briana Wells.
Chewning Tops A-Sun In Hitting
Senior Crislyn Chewning has certainly put together quite a season and has caught fire as of late. She currently tops the A-Sun with a .381 batting average. She leads the league in hitting by 12 points over Kennesaw State's Ashlee Burkett.
Childers Earns NFCA Honor
While Georgia Tech's Jen Yee took home NFCA/Louisville Slugger Player of the Week honors, Morgan Childers was one of four players named to the award's "Other Top Performers" list.
Childers Earns Second A-Sun Pitcher Of The Week Honor
With a 5-0 record and 48 strikeouts last week, junior hurler Morgan Childers earned her second A-Sun Pitcher of the Week honor this year. She previously earned weekly honors on March 22. Childers, who now has six career league pitcher of the week honors, was dominant the week of April 12-18. She earned both wins in the doubleheader against Charlotte and tossed a two-hit shutout against South Carolina. She struck out 12 in the win over A-Sun foe Kennesaw State, while nearly tossing a no-hitter in the one-hit shutout over Mercer.
Childers Approaches Statistical Anomaly
With 22 more strikeouts this season, Morgan Childers will reach 380 on the year. That number stood as Upstate's old career strikeouts record held by Kasey Heron.
Brasil Turning In Solid Season
Junior Kim Brasil plays one of the key roles on the team as the Spartans' leadoff hitter. In head coach Chris Hawkins' style of offense, Upstate manufactures runs and needs people on base to do so. Brasil is a strong leadoff hitter. She ranks third on the team with a .322 batting average and a .366 on-base percentage. She tops the club with 39 runs and 18 stolen bases. She can also drive in runs and has 14 RBI on the year. Defensively, she has been solid as well. Last year's everyday starter at catcher, she has been moved to left field to solidify the unit, while still logging innings behind the plate. She currently tops the A-Sun with 17 doubles.
Childers Moves Into Second On A-Sun Career Strikeouts List
With 48 strikeouts last week, Morgan Childers not only moved by North Florida's Devyn Findley on the A-Sun's all-time strikeouts list, she also topped Brianne Mertens (Samford, 1998-01) for second all-time in the conference. Childers now has 893 strikeouts in her brilliant career, passing the 873 Mertens collected in her career. Findley currently has 860 and should move past Mertens within the next few games. Childers will have to do some work to get to the top of the all-time list. Nikki Myers (Florida Atlantic, 1999-02) struck out 1,376 in her four-year career, 483 ahead of Childers.
Childers Sits Alone Atop Upstate's All-Time Wins List
When she claimed a 7-2 victory over Stetson in the first game of the doubleheader on April 3, Morgan Childers became Upstate's career leader with 70 wins. She now has 78 in her career with her sites set on 80 victories this year.
Childers Moves To Top Of Career Shutouts List
In the second half of her junior season, Morgan Childers has reached yet another career milestone. She tied Kristy Middagh with 25 career shutouts at South Carolina on April 6, then broke the all-time record when she tossed a no-hitter at North Florida on April 9. She now owns the career records for wins (78), strikeouts (893) and opponent batting average (.159) in addition to her 29 shutouts record.
Childers Breaks Own Single-Season Strikeout Record
With her fifth of 10 strikeouts at North Florida on April 9, Morgan Childers broke her own single-season school record for strikeouts. She now has 358 this season, breaking the old mark of 277 set last year. She now owns the three highest season strikeout totals at Upstate, with 358 and counting this year, 277 last year and 258 as a freshman in 2008.
Upstate Gets 800th Career Win
The Upstate softball program reached a milestone when it defeated South Carolina on April 14 at Cyrill Stadium, reaching the program's 800th victory.
Spartans Look To Get Off To Fast Start
It doesn't take an expert to tell you that if you score first, you put pressure on the opponent to play catch-up. That is certainly the case this season for Upstate. The Spartans are 29-5 this season in games when it is the first to score. Upstate is 15-1 in games when it scores in the first inning.
Spartans Top A-Sun In Nine Statistical Categories
In addition to Upstate's league-leading .979 fielding percentage, the Spartans top the A-Sun in eight other statistical categories. Crislyn Chewning tops the league with a .381 batting average, while Kim Brasil tops the league with 17 doubles. Morgan Childers stands first with 28 wins, 358 strikeouts, 84 batters struck out looking, 216 innings pitched and 29 games started. Haley Sheehan is tied for first with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
Childers In A-Sun Record Book
Not only is Morgan Childers putting her stamp on the Upstate record book, she is moving up on the career list in the A-Sun record book as well. She currently stands second all-time with 893 strikeouts, third with 78 wins, fourth with 29 shutouts, and seventh with a 1.33 ERA. The 358 strikeouts this season is the third-highest season total in A-Sun history behind Nikki Myers' (Florida Atlantic) 437 in 2002 and 403 in 2001.
First And Sixth Innings Key To Upstate's Success
When Upstate has done its damage at the plate, it has come primarily in two innings - the first and sixth. Upstate has scored 30 runs in the first inning of games this season and 37 in the sixth inning. The 67 runs in those two innings combines represent 40 percent of the run total this season as the Spartans have scored 168 runs this year.
Spartans Top 2009 Home Run Total
With three home runs over the weekend, Upstate has cranked out 20 home runs this season, five more than the Spartans belted last year. Upstate is just four homers shy of the 24 hit in 2008 in the program's first year playing on the Division I level in the A-Sun. Lauren Quevedo tops the club with five home runs to lead the Spartans. Crislyn Chewning, Ericka Harris and Katie Zauner have each hit two, while Monica Hall and Cheyanna Ohlrich have hit two. Kim Brasil and Janna Lewis have each hit one.
Mr. 500
Now in his 16th year at the helm of the program, head coach Chris Hawkins has topped the 500 career-win mark. He currently has 550 career victories and is not only the winningest coach in the history of the softball program, he has more wins than any other coach who has ever coached at Upstate in any sport.
Childers Is The Strikeout Queen
Junior hurler Morgan Childers has a long list of accomplishments to her name. She currently owns all three of Upstate's strikeout records. She tops the career list with 893 strikeouts, the single-season list with 358 and counting this year, and the single-game list with 18 set during her freshman campaign in 2008.
