Spartanburg, S.C. – Lipscomb combined to score 18 runs in two games as the Lady Bisons recorded a sweep of No. 25 USC Upstate in A-Sun softball action Sunday evening at Cyrill Stadium. Lipscomb won by scores of 7-3 and 11-6.
Upstate fell to 30-5 overall and 2-2 in the A-Sun with the losses. The Spartans will be back in action Wednesday evening when it travels to Columbia to take on South Carolina in a non-conference game starting at 5:00 p.m. Lipscomb improved to 15-11 overall and 4-0 in the league with the pair of wins.
Lipscomb connected for four home runs in the two games and used an uncharacteristically shaky Upstate defense to score 18 runs on the day. The Lady Bisons collected 21 hits.
"We were very aggressive and hit well through both games. We weren't passive and didn't take strikes. On the defensive side, it was very uncharacteristic of the Upstate program. Hopefully, we got them (errors) all out tonight," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins.
Lipscomb broke on top early in the first game on an RBI double by Caroline Mason and an RBI single by Courtney Billington. The Lady Bisons made it a 4-0 game with two runs in the third when Mollie Mitchell hit a two-run home run.
Upstate got back in the game with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Janna Lewis (Huntersville, N.C.) doubled to score Kim Brasil (Mississauga, Ontario) from second, Lauren Quevedo (Wellington, Fla.) doubled to score Lewis and Ericka Harris (Piedmont, S.C.) singled to drive in pinch runner Lindsay Kelly (Jacksonville, Fla.) to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Upstate threatened to take the lead in the fifth, putting runners on first and second with two outs, but Lipscomb got out of the inning. The Lady Bisons then put some insurance runs on the board with three runs in the top of the seventh. Mackenzie Tucker singled to drive in a run, Mitchell followed with an RBI double and Mason collected an RBI single to give Lipscomb a 7-3 lead.
Upstate put together two singles in the bottom of the seventh, but Lipscomb would not allow the Spartans past second base and took the win.
Whitney Kiihnl went the distance for Lipscomb to earn the win and improve to 11-6 on the year. She allowed three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Morgan Childers (Kings Mountain, N.C.) allowed seven runs, five earned, with four strikeouts in seven innings. She fell to 21-3 with the loss.
Mitchell led Lipscomb at the plate with two hits, three RBIs and two runs. Mason added three hits and two RBIs. For Upstate, Brasil and Lewis each collected two hits.
The offensive onslaught continued in game two with the two teams combining for 17 runs. In the end, Lipscomb came out on top and Kiihnl picked up her second win of the day, tossing four innings of relief to improve to 12-6 on the year. She gave up just three hits and struck out three. Upstate starter Hannah Alexander (Lexington, N.C.) took the loss and fell to 9-2.
Upstate jumped on top with a run in the first inning on Katie Zauner's (Canby, Ore.) solo home run. Lipscomb came back and took a 3-1 lead with three runs in the third inning. Billington singled to drive in a run and Haley Elliott doubled to drive in two runs.
Upstate, though, responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame. With two outs in the inning, Zauner singled up the middle to drive in two runs and Quevedo cranked a three-run home run to give Upstate a 6-3 lead.
In a back-and-forth battle, Lipscomb came right back and scored four runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 7-6 lead. Mitchell collected two RBIs on a double and Mason picked up a two-run home run as Lipscomb opened up a 7-6 lead.
Upstate almost got the run back in the fourth. The Spartans put a runner on third with two outs and Brasil lifted a fly ball to center. However, Lipscomb's Breanna Thurman made an over the shoulder catch for the third out.
After two scoreless innings, Lipscomb put the game out of reach with four runs in the top of the seventh. Mitchell hit a three-run homer and Mason hit a solo shot to give the Lady Bisons an 11-6 lead.
Mitchell finished with three hits and five RBIs with three runs to lead Lipscomb at the plate. Mason added two hits with three RBIs. Zauner led Upstate at the plate with two hits, three RBIs and two runs.
In committing seven errors on the day, Upstate only allowed nine earned runs on the day. The Spartans allowed just four earned runs in the second game.
