Box Score (PDF)

Spartanburg, S.C. – Lexi Shubert struck out 10 batters and Cheyenne Griffin and Dana Landers led the Spartans at the plate as the USC Upstate softball team claimed an 11-3 victory in five innings over Western Carolina in its final game of the Upstate Classic at Cyrill Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Upstate finished the tournament 3-0 to improve its overall record to 4-1 on the season. Western Carolina fell to 1-2 on the year.

"This was a good way to end the tournament," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "This was the best game we played this weekend and we got a good win against a good Western Carolina team. We got good pitching and good hitting, and our defense came around as well."

Upstate got out of the gate quickly. The Spartans loaded the bases with no outs and Karla Beasley drew a walk to bring in the game's first run. Landers followed with a 2-run double to give the Spartans a 3-0 advantage. Upstate made it a 4-0 game on Kaitlyn Jaeger's squeeze that brought in a run from third.

Upstate added to its lead in the second inning. Landers drove in a run on a ground out with the bases loaded and Jaeger drew a bases loaded walk to give the Spartans a 6-0 advantage.

Western Carolina got back in the game in the top of the third. Victoria Mariscal hit a three-run homer to left with two outs to get the Catamounts within three, 6-3.

Upstate ended the game early in the fifth inning, scoring five runs to take the game. It all started with two outs as well. Hayley Reinfeld and Shellie Robinson both walked and Griffin followed with a three-run home run to give the Spartans a 9-3 lead. Beasley and Landers singled to put runners on the corners and Landers stole second to put runners on second and third. Aly Schneider ended things with a double that drove in two and ended the game.

Shubert started and was solid throughout the game. Despite giving up a three-run home run in the third, she was in command all day. She struck out 10 and allowed just two hits to improve to 3-0 on the year. Mallory Broome took the loss and fell to 0-1 after allowing four runs on two hits.

Griffin led the Spartans at the plate with two hits, three RBIs and two runs. She was named the co-Most Valuable Player of the Tournament (along with Furman's Natalie Clemmons) after finishing with a .538 batting average with eight RBIs, six runs and three home runs. Landers added two hits with three RBIs and a run and was named to the All-Tournament team along with Spartans Shubert and Robinson.

Upstate returns to action Wednesday when it travels to Atlanta, Ga., to take on Georgia Tech in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.

2015 Upstate Classic
Friday, Feb. 13
Game 1 - Upstate 6, George Mason 4
Game 2 - Furman 7, Radford 2
Game 3 - Upstate 21, George Mason 20
Game 4 - Furman 8, Radford 6

Saturday, Feb. 14
Game 5 - Furman 13, George Mason 2
Game 6 - Western Carolina 4, Radford 1
Game 7 - Upstate 11, Western Carolina 3
Game 8 - Radford 12, George Mason 4

All-Tournament Team
Upstate – Cheyenne Griffin (co-MVP), Dana Landers, Shellie Robinson, Lexi Shubert
Furman – Natalie Clemmons (co-MVP), Alex Sappington, Taylor Jenkins
George Mason – Brooke Blankenship
Radford – Whitney Davis
Western Carolina – Victoria Mariscal