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Landers' Walk-Off Home Run | Postgame Highlights & Interviews
Spartanburg, S.C. – Dana Landers entered Sunday's game against Stetson with three home runs on the season. Her fourth homer of the season came in the bottom of the seventh in walk-off fashion to give the USC Upstate softball team a 6-4 victory over the Hatters at Cyrill Stadium and give the Spartans the A-Sun series sweep.
Upstate improved to 32-3 overall and 13-1 in the A-Sun with the victory Sunday. The sweep of Stetson not only gave Upstate its fourth consecutive A-Sun series sweep, but extended the league winning streak to 13 games and the overall winning streak to 11 games. Stetson fell to 20-16 overall and 3-9 in the A-Sun.
"We needed to play in a game like that where we got down, fought back and got back up," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "I have to give Frank (Griffin, Stetson's head coach) credit. He put (Morgan) Hatch in to hit a home run and she did. When we fought back, it was a perfect example of what we are going to have to do down the stretch in the A-Sun. Stetson came out today motivated and in a good mood. They battled and played well, and we were fortunate to win the game."
After drawing a walk to start the game, Stetson jumped on top when Chrissy Morello hit a double to left center to bring home Brittany Hawn all the way from first. The run snapped Upstate's 16-inning defensive scoreless streak.
Stetson starting pitcher Meredith Owen helped her own cause in the first as well. She slapped an RBI single down the third baseline to give the Hatters a 2-0 lead. Stetson made it a 3-0 game when Courtney Brandt singled through the middle to drive in another run, causing Hawkins to lift starter Hannah Alexander (Lexington, N.C.) in favor of Jamie Ujvari (Niceville, Fla.).
Ujvari came in and got a strikeout, her 100th of the season, and a fly out to right to end the inning. The three runs scored by Stetson were the most scored against Upstate in the first inning this season.
Upstate rallied in the bottom of the first inning. The Spartans loaded the bases with one out and Dana Landers (Simpsonville, S.C.) at the plate. Landers lifted a long fly ball to center. It didn't clear the fence, but the sacrifice fly did bring in a run to cut the Hatter lead to 3-1.
Upstate looked to draw even closer in the second inning. After getting a leadoff double from Kendall Settlemyre (Hickory, N.C.) and moving her over to third with one out, the Spartans couldn't get her home as Owen and Stetson maintained its 3-1 advantage after two full innings.
Ujvari did her job to keep Upstate in the game. After entering in the top of the first, she allowed just two hits and three base runners in her first 3 2/3 innings of work, striking out six along the way.
Owen was strong throughout the game, limiting the Spartans to just four hits through the first four innings. That changed, though, in the fifth.
Upstate put runners on the corners with one out and Cheyenne Griffin (Moore, S.C.) at the plate. Griffin took the 0-1 pitch and drove it over the wall in left and off the Firehouse Subs sign on the scoreboard to erase the 3-1 deficit and deliver Upstate a 4-3 lead after five innings. It was the fourth home run of the season for Griffin, tying her career high after belting four last season as a freshman.
Down to their final three outs, Stetson rallied in the top of the seventh. Pinch hitter Morgan Hatch led off the inning with a solo home run to left to tie the game at 4-4.
Upstate, though, was undaunted and came through to win the game on Landers' homer in the seventh. Meredith Barnes (Salem, Ore.) led off the inning with a single and moved to second on Griffin's sacrifice bunt. Landers came up and hammered a pitch over the wall in right center to give the Spartans the 6-4 victory and her first career walk-off homer.
Ujvari went 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run on three Stetson hits to earn the victory. She improved to a perfect 14-0 on the season and tallied nine strikeouts in the game. Owen took her second tough loss of the series, allowing six runs on nine Upstate hits to fall to 12-7 on the year.
Griffin and Settlemyre each had two hits for Upstate to lead the Spartans at the plate. Griffin and Landers accounted for all of the runs, each driving in three. With two home runs Sunday, Upstate now has 37 this season, breaking the single season Division I era school record of 35 hit in 2011.
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