Game One Box (PDF) | Game Two Box (PDF)
Game One Highlights | Game Two Highlights
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team rallied to win game one and cruised to the victory in game two to sweep its A-Sun doubleheader against Lipscomb Sunday afternoon at Cyrill Stadium, completing the three-game series sweep. The Spartans scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to win game one, 7-6, and won game two, 8-1.
Upstate played from behind in the final four innings of game one, but Maddison Kieffer delivered in the sixth and the seventh to win game one. The Spartans then broke out the bats and Lexi Shubert went the distance in game two to take the sweep.
"Most of our offseason has been preparing to play Lipscomb and Florida Gulf Coast and do a lot of work to compete at that level. To sweep both of them over the last two weekends shows that hard work has paid off," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "I'm proud of our players for continuing to give the effort and give everything they have to this team. There's no time to look back. We have to keep working hard and getting better."
Upstate improved to 32-4 overall and 13-2 in the A-Sun with the sweep, maintain its position in first place in the league standings. The Spartans will travel to Western Carolina Wednesday for a non-conference doubleheader before hitting the road next weekend for an A-Sun showdown at Mercer. Lipscomb fell to 27-8 overall and 8-6 in the league.
Shellie Robinson got things going in game one on the first pitch of the game, belting a solo homer to left center to give the Spartans an early 1-0 lead.
Upstate starter Anna Miller took a no-hitter into the fourth inning. However, Lipscomb answered in the top of the inning. Paige Neely led off the inning with a bloop single to left that just glanced off the glove of a lunging Meredith Barnes who attempted to make a play on the ball as it died in the wind. Kelsey Cartwright then reached on an error to put two runners on. Haley Elliott hit a three-run home run to left center to give the Lady Bisons a 3-1 lead.
Upstate got a run back in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Lipscomb lead to 3-2. The Spartans put runners on second and third with one out when Kieffer slapped a single to left to drive in a run.
Upstate got out of a jam in the top of the fifth. Lipscomb put runners on first and second following a hit and error and moved the runners over to second and third with one out on a sacrifice. However, Spartan reliever Hannah Alexander got a fly out to short center and a pop out to the catcher to get out of the inning and the jam.
Lipscomb put runners on first and second with no outs again in the sixth inning. Bridgette Begle doubled to the gap in left center to score a run and put runners on second and third with one out. Brittany Elmore sent a shot back at Alexander that deflected off the pitcher for a single that also scored a run as Lipscomb opened a 5-2 lead. Robinson then made a huge defensive play, ranging to her right deep into left center to grab a slicing fly ball for the third out of the inning.
Upstate again responded in the bottom of the sixth. Kendall Settlemyre singled with two outs and Kieffer followed with a two-run home run to right to get the Spartans back within a run, 5-4, heading to the seventh.
Lipscomb used the long ball to give starter Heather Parker a little breathing room in the top of the seventh. Kelsey Cartwright led off the inning with a solo home run to give the Lady Bisons a 6-4 advantage.
Upstate put runners on first and second with no outs following back-to-back singles from Lindsay Kelly and Hayley Reinfeld in the bottom of the seventh. The Spartans loaded the bases when Robinson was walked. After Lipscomb reliever Tanner Sanders got the first out of the inning on a force out at home, Upstate got back-to-back singles up the middle from Barnes and Cheyenne Griffin to tie the game. After a pop up put two outs on the board, Kieffer, who homered the inning before, singled up the middle for the game-winning hit as Landers scored the winning run from third.
Miller, who came back into the game in the seventh, earned the win to improve to 11-2 on the year. She allowed three runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings of work. She struck out five. Sanders took the loss in relief. She allowed three runs on five hits to fall to 8-3.
Kieffer led the Spartans at the plate with three hits and four RBIs, including the two-run homer in the sixth and the game-winning hit in the seventh.
Game two started just like game one started, almost. Instead of Upstate opening a 1-0 lead with a leadoff homer, Elmore gave Lipscomb a 1-0 lead when she led off the top of the first with a solo homer to center off Shubert. It would be all that the Lady Bisons would get off the righty.
Upstate responded in the bottom of the inning, plating three runs to take a 3-1 lead. Griffin started things off, driving in a run on a ground out with runners on second and third. Settlemyre then smashed a two-run homer to straightaway center to put the Spartans ahead by two.
Upstate made it a 4-1 lead in the second when Robinson reached on an error by the Lipscomb shortstop and Hayley Reinfeld scored from second on the play. The Spartans made it a 5-1 lead on Barnes' sacrifice fly to right.
Upstate made it a 6-1 lead when Aly Schneider scored on a wild pitch with two outs. Barnes then kept the fireworks going with a two-run home run to right field as the Spartans opened an 8-1 advantage.
Lipscomb looked to scratch itself back into the game in the sixth, putting two on with no outs. However, Shubert got Cartwright to ground into a double play on a solid effort by Settlemyre. A batter later, Settlemyre snagged a liner for the third out of the inning to keep the Spartans ahead, 8-1.
Robinson, Swttlemyre and Schneider each had two hits for the Spartans, while Barnes led the way with three RBIs in the game. Shubert tossed seven innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out four to improve to 14-1 on the year.
Ashley Anderson, who entered the series with a 12-0 record, lost her second game of the weekend to fall to 12-2 on the year. She allowed eight runs on nine hits.
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