Spartans Renew Rivalry with South Carolina Wednesday Night at Cyrill Stadium
4/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Complete Release in PDF Format
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team hits the diamond Wednesday evening, renewing a young rivalry with South Carolina when the Gamecocks visit Cyrill Stadium for a 5:00 p.m. start. The game will be the second time that South Carolina will make the trip to Spartanburg, with Upstate taking a 5-0 victory over the Gamecocks last year at Cyrill Stadium. Upstate owns a 3-1 lead all-time and have rattled off three-straight wins in the series, including a 3-2 victory earlier this season in Columbia at the Palmetto State Showdown.
Upstate enters the game with a 34-9 overall record and is coming off two-straight wins over Stetson and have won four of the last six games. Wednesday's game against South Carolina will be the final non-conference matchup this season for the Spartans. South Carolina enters the game with a 20-20 overall record. The Gamecocks have won three of the last five games, defeating Charleston Southern and North Carolina last week before dropping a pair at Longwood over the weekend. They claimed a win over Coastal Carolina on Monday.
Fans can follow the action online in a variety of ways. Free live statistical updates will be available on the official Upstate Athletics website, www.upstatespartans.com, while video for a fee will be available on ASun.TV.
Looking Back at Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson
Despite allowing just one hit, Upstate dropped the series opener at Florida Gulf Coast by a 3-1 score and fell to the Eagles in game two of the doubleheader, 2-0, to start its four-game trip to South and Central Florida. After a day off, the Spartans regrouped and swept Stetson in a key conference doubleheader. Along the way, Morgan Childers claimed her 108th career victory with a 4-2 win over Stetson in the first game. The win tied the A-Sun all-time record. Lauren Quevedo also hit her league-leading 11th home run of the season an accounted for three RBIs in the win. Hannah Alexander tossed a five-hit shutout to win game two for the Spartans.
Childers Ties All-Time A-Sun Wins Record
With a 4-2 win at Stetson in the first game of the doubleheader on April 9, Morgan Childers not only secured an important win for the Spartans this season, she reached yet another career milestone in tying the all-time A-Sun record with her 108th career victory. She is now tied with Nikki Myers, who won 108 games in her four years at Florida Atlantic from 1999-02. With another victory, she will own the record outright.
Closing in on 600 Wins
While Morgan Childers has continued to rack up milestone after milestone and other Spartans has put their name on Upstate's career record books, head coach Chris Hawkins is closing in on a career milestone of his own. With 592 wins in his career, he is just eight victories shy of reaching 600. Now in his 17th year at the helm of the program, he 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.
Upstate Garners First-Ever Top 25 National Ranking
For the first time in school history playing on the Division I level, the Upstate softball program earned a top 25 national ranking in a major top 25 poll, coming in at No. 25 in the March 22 UltimateCollegeSoftball.com poll.
Upstate Among A-Sun Elite
In the final stretch of the regular season, Upstate continues to rank among the A-Sun's elite teams in the latest statistical report posted by the conference. The Spartans top all conference schools with a .308 batting average, while ranking second with a 1.50 ERA and a .976 fielding percentage. Individually, the Spartans lead the league in eight statistical categories. Lauren Quevedo tops the conference with 11 home runs, Kim Brasil leads the league with five triples, Katie Zauner tops the A-Sun with 14 doubles, and Morgan Childers leads the league in wins (24), strikeouts (296), shutouts (9) and opponent batting average (.157). See the full listing in the left sidebar on page 5.
Brasil an All-Time Great
Kim Brasil is closing out a career in which she has set a standard at the plate for all future Upstate players. She ranks among the all-time career leaders in eight different categories, ranking fourth all-time with 49 doubles, fifth with 14 triples, and sixth with 197 hits and 136 runs. She is the only player to have played all four years on the Division I level to reach the top 10 in hits. In addition to her offensive capabilities, she also ranks ninth all-time with a .982 fielding percentage while playing both outfield and catcher in her career.
Quevedo Second on Upstate's All-Time Home Runs List
A second team all-conference selection as a freshman, Lauren Quevedo is wrapping up a career that will place her as one of the top power hitters in the history of the program. She currently ranks second on Upstate's all-time home runs list with 31 and is seventh with a .549 slugging percentage. She is also the only player who has played all four years on the Division I level to have reached the top 10 in RBIs, ranking fifth with 110.
Feast or Famine in Conference Play
Since opening A-Sun play against Belmont on March 23, it has either been feast or famine for Upstate. In six league doubleheaders this season, the Spartans have either swept or been swept in each series. Upstate has swept Belmont, North Florida and Stetson, while being swept by Lipscomb, Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast.
Spartans Strong at Home
Since opening Cyrill Stadium in 2002, Upstate has been tough to beat at home. The Spartans were 24-6 in 2010 and set a school record for winning in 2009 with an 18-3 mark for an .857 winning percentage. Upstate is 168-44 (.792) all-time at home since 2002. Upstate entered the doubleheader against Lipscomb (March 27) with a 26-game home winning streak dating back to last season and a 20-0 mark to start the 2011 season. However, the loss to the Lady Bisons in the first game ended the streak.
Childers Second on A-Sun Career Shutouts, Strikeouts Lists
Morgan Childers has moved into second place in A-Sun history with 41 shutouts and 1,259 strikeouts. Florida Atlantic's Nikki Myers owns the all-time marks with 47 shutouts and 1,376. Childers is six shutouts and 117 strikeouts shy of the all-time records.
