Nashville, Tenn. – Shellie Robinson and Hannah Alexander led a strong USC Upstate effort in game one to lead the Spartans to a split at Lipscomb Friday evening in A-Sun softball action at Draper Field. The Spartans claimed a dominating 9-1 victory in the opener, while Lipscomb scored a 2-1 victory in game two.
Upstate has already clinched a spot in the upcoming A-Sun Tournament next week being hosted by the Spartans at Cyrill Stadium. Upstate will end the regular season at Belmont Saturday afternoon. The first game has been moved up to a 4:30 p.m. CT start. The Spartans stand 37-11 overall and 10-6 in the A-Sun. Lipscomb is 32-18 overall and 9-7 in the league.
Upstate got a strong offensive performance and an equally solid effort out of Alexander (Lexington, N.C.) to run-rule Lipscomb in the first game, taking the win by a score of 9-1. Casee Clauser (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) tossed a solid game in game two, but took the tough 2-1 loss.
"I thought that our young team played a very good and very accomplished pitcher (Kiihnl) with a lot of intensity, and couldn't be more proud of them. They put together a terrific performance and if we can do that moving forward, we have a bright future. Hannah pitched very well to lead us in the first game and Casee really did well in the second, despite taking a tough loss," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins.
Upstate didn't take long to make an impact in the first game. Robinson (DeLand, Fla.) led off the inning with an infield single and scored when Cheyenne Griffin (Moore, S.C.) smacked an RBI double to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Upstate made it a 2-0 lead when pinch runner Katelyn Molkenthin (Valrico, Fla.) stole home later in the inning.
Upstate added to its lead in the third inning. After placing runners on second and third with two outs, Maddison Kieffer (Middleburg, Fla.) smacked a two-run single to center to give the Spartans a 4-0 lead.
Upstate threatened to put the game out of reach in the fourth inning. The Spartans loaded the bases with two outs, but Lipscomb starter Whitney Kiihnl got out of the inning with a fielder's choice force out at the plate and a fly out.
An inning later, Upstate did put the game out of reach. After two Spartans reached on errors, Robinson cranked her 15th home run of the season, a three-run shot, to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead. Robinson already owns the single-season school record for home runs during the Division I era. Upstate plated two more runs in the sixth inning to open a 9-0 advantage. Kieffer drove in a run on a fielder's choice and Lindsay Kelly (Jacksonville, Fla.) drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.
Lipscomb threatened to stay in the game in the bottom of the sixth. The Lady Bisons put runners on first and second with one out and first and third with two outs. Caroline Mason followed with an RBI single to cut into the Upstate lead, 9-1. However, Alexander got a fly out with the next batter to end the game early due to the mercy rule.
Alexander went the distance, allowing one run on five hits to improve to 25-5 on the year. She struck out four and has 197 strikeouts this season. Kiihnl took the loss for Lipscomb, allowing nine runs on nine Upstate hits. Four of the nine runs were unearned.
Robinson finished the game with a dominant performance, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs. Kieffer also collected three RBIs and finished with two hits. She also came up with several solid defensive plays on pop-ups. Griffin was 2-for-2 with an RBI and two runs.
Upstate opened the scoring in the second game, plating a run in the second inning. The Spartans had runners on second and third with two outs when Kendall Settlemyre (Hickory, N.C.) reached base on a fielder's choice. Hayley Reinfeld (Parkalnd, Fla.) beat the throw home on the play to score the game's first run.
Lipscomb threatened to tie the game in the third inning, but two standout defensive by Robinson and Ericka Harris (Piedmont, S.C.) kept the Lady Bisons off the scoreboard. Lipscomb had a runner on second when Kiihnl singled up the middle. However, Robinson came up and fired a strike to the plate to keep the runner at third. With runners at second and third, Harris jumped up out of her crouch behind the plate and caught a foul pop nearly against the screen for the third out of the inning.
Lipscomb went on top in the fifth inning. Haley Elliott led off the inning with a bloop single to right. Bree Thurman then reached on a fielder's choice to get one out in the inning. She moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Bridgette Begle's RBI single. Begle moved to second on the throw home and scored a batter later when Kiihnl singled up the middle to give the Lady Bisons a 2-1 lead.
Upstate attempted to tie the game in the seventh. Kelly singled to lead off the inning and pinch runner Katelyn Molkenthin advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. A ground out moved Molkenthin to third and Robinson was intentionally walked. Robinson moved to second on an uncontested steal, but Lipscomb starter Ashley Anderson got a fly out to end the game.
Clauser allowed two runs on five hits to take the loss. She fell to 3-3 on the year. Anderson improved to 11-5 with the win for Lipscomb. Reinfeld led Upstate at the plate, finishing with two hits.
