Game One Box (PDF) | Game Two Box (PDF)
Johnson City, Tenn. – Anna Miller tied USC Upstate's single game strikeout record with 18, Shellie Robinson tied the program's career home runs record and the 23rd-ranked Spartans broke the school's record for wins with an A-Sun doubleheader sweep at ETSU Saturday afternoon at Betty Basler Field. The Spartans won by scores of 9-2 and 2-0.
Miller struck out 18, retiring all but three ETSU batters herself in the second game shutout. She tied the single-game record of 18 set by all-time great Morgan Childers, who fanned 18 in her collegiate debut on Feb. 13, 2008.
Robinson hit a solo home run in the top of the third in game one to tie the career record of 46 hit by Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame member Stacey Berrong. The two wins also gave Upstate 43 on the year, breaking the school's Division I era school record of 42 held by the 2011 and 2013 squads. The all-time wins record is 47 set by the 2007 team.
Upstate improved to 43-5 overall and 21-2 in the A-Sun with the sweep. The Spartans have already clinched the A-Sun regular season championship and No. 1 seed in next week's A-Sun Tournament. ETSU fell to 20-31 overall and 7-17 in the conference. The teams will complete the three-game league series Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
"Both of our pitchers did really well today," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "Anna was really on her game. Lexi started off a little timid but came on as the game went along. I attribute that to us not playing a lot the last couple of weeks and it being so long that since she actually pitched. For us to get back out there and get two wins today as we get ready for the A-Sun Tournament was important for us. I'm proud of everybody. Everyone seemed focused on what we need to do and I feel good about it."
After two scoreless innings, Upstate broke through in the third to open a 1-0 lead on Robinson's solo home run. An inning earlier, the Spartans had put runners on second and third with two outs, but couldn't push anything across.
ETSU took the lead in the game in the bottom of the third inning, aided by a pair of Upstate errors. After a single put runners on the corners, the throw to second attempting to get Jackie Baird out after she strayed off the bag went wide of the mark and allowed Katie Wolff to score from third. With the bases loaded and two outs, Everett reached on an error, allowing Baird to score and give the Buccaneers a 2-1 lead.
Upstate rallied in the fourth and fifth to put the game away. The Spartans scored four runs in each inning to open a 9-2 lead. In the fourth, Robinson started things off, slapping an RBI single with the bases loaded and one out. Kendall Settlemyre followed with a two-run single and Maddison Kieffer finished the scoring in the frame with an RBI single as Upstate opened a 5-2 lead.
With two outs and runners on the corners, Robinson came through with another RBI single to start things off again for Upstate. Cheyenne Griffin reached on an error with two runs scoring on the play and putting runners on the corners to give the Spartans an 8-2 advantage. Upstate closed out the scoring when Settlemyre scored from third as Griffin got in a rundown between first and second to give the Spartans a 9-2 lead.
Shubert was solid in the circle throughout the game. She went the distance, scattering seven hits and striking out a career-high 11 to improve to 18-1 on the year, 10-1 in the A-Sun. Only one of the two runs scored against her was earned. ETSU's Wolff went the distance as well, allowing nine runs on 10 Upstate hits. She fell to 5-13.
Robinson led the way at the plate for Upstate. She finished with three hits, three runs and three RBIs. Hayley Reinfeld also finished with three hits to go along with two runs.
While game one saw a lot of offense, game two was quite the opposite. Upstate starter Anna Miller and ETSU starter Taylor Carter kept both teams off the board through five innings. Miller, in particular was dominant, striking out 13 of the first 15 outs in the game.
With Miller dealing in the circle, Settlemyre came through in the clutch at the plate in the top of the sixth. She belted a solo home run, her 11th of the season, to give Upstate a 1-0 lead. The home run was the 55th of the season for the Spartans, breaking the season school record of 54 set last year.
Upstate added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. With Meredith Barnes on first and two outs, Erin Schattle doubled down the line in left to score Barnes and give the Spartans a 2-0 lead.
Miller struck out five of the next six outs in the game to take the win and shutout. It was her eighth shutout of the season. She improved to 16-3 overall and 9-1 in the A-Sun with the win. She also increased her season total to 201, vaulting back on top as the A-Sun leader. Upstate pitchers struck out 29 batters on the day. Carter took the loss for ETSU, falling to 13-10 on the year after allowing two runs on six Upstate hits.
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