Box Score - 1 (PDF) | Box Score - 2 (PDF)
Spartanburg, S.C. – USC Upstate officially locked down a spot in the A-Sun Tournament with a win in game one and the Spartans took a key doubleheader sweep against A-Sun foe Stetson Saturday afternoon at Cyrill Stadium. The Spartans won by scores of 9-4 and 8-4.
Upstate improved to 33-7 overall and 13-1 in the A-Sun. Stetson fell to 22-13 overall and 5-6 in the league. The teams will finish their three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. at Cyrill Stadium.
Upstate has now won 24 consecutive A-Sun games at home. The last time the Spartans lost a regular season conference game at home was March 9, 2013 against North Florida.
Upstate belted four home runs on the day, three in game one, to increase its season total to 76. It is the second-most homers hit in the A-Sun by any conference team since the Spartans joined the conference for the 2008 season, trailing only the 81 hit by Campbell in 2009.
With two runs on the day, Shellie Robinson took over sole possession of Upstate's all-time career record for run. She now has 203 in her career, breaking the tie with Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame member Shay Slater Norris, who had 201 in her standout career from 2005-08. Robinson joined Norris as the only two Spartans to ever reach 200 career hits and runs, and is also just the second player in A-Sun history to reach the mark.
Dana Landers collected three RBIs on the day and needs just one more to reach 100 in her career. When she gets another RBI, she will become the ninth Spartan ever to reach 100 career hits, runs and RBIs. Three Spartans have already reached that milestone this season – Robinson, Cheyenne Griffin and Kendall Settlemyre.
Game 1 – Upstate 9, Stetson 4
After a scoreless first inning, Upstate jumped on top and Kendall Settlemyre provided the punch much like she did when she hit three home runs to lead the Spartans to a sweep of Gardner-Webb Thursday. She led off the inning with a solo home run to right to give Upstate the early lead. It was her fourth homer of the week and the 13th of the season.
Upstate used the long ball again in the third and Shellie Robinson provided the fireworks. The homer started a huge inning as the Spartans batted around. She connected on a two-run home run after Lindsey Greeson drew a leadoff walk. The Spartans weren't done.
With runners on the corners and one out, Hayley Reinfeld smacked an RBI double to give the Spartans a 4-0 lead. Pinch runner Kendsey Chappelear scored from third on an illegal pitch and Karla Beasley drove in a run on a single to right center to give the Spartans a 6-0 advantage. Robinson drove in her third run of the inning when she singled through the left side to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead. The inning ended the outing for Brandt as she gave way to Taylor Cochran to start the fourth.
Upstate starting pitcher Lexi Shubert was perfect through the first three innings and watched as the Spartans built a big lead. She lost her no-hit and perfect game bid in the fourth when Jazz Vasquez singled to left center for Stetson's first hit of the game. The hit led to a three-run inning as the Hatters got back into the game. With two runners on, Jessica Griffin hit a three-run home run to left to get Stetson within 7-3.
Dana Landers got two of the three runs back in the bottom of the fourth when she connected with a two-run, two-out home run to left center. The dinger gave the Spartans a 9-3 lead. After a scoreless fifth inning, Stetson inched closer when Griffin singled to drive in a run and cut the Spartans' lead to 9-4.
Shubert went the distance and picked up her A-Sun-leading 23rd win of the season. She improved to 23-5 after allowing four runs on five Stetson hits with three strikeouts. One of the runs against her was unearned. Brandt took the loss for the Hatters. She allowed seven runs on seven Upstate hits to fall to 8-8 on the year.
Robinson led Upstate at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run. The Spartans hit three home runs in the game for the eighth time this season.
Game 2 – Upstate 8, Stetson 4
Upstate opened the scoring in the second game in the first inning to gain early control. After loading the bases with one out, Reinfeld drew a walk to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Stetson starter Chelsea Hostetler got out of the inning without any further damage with a strikeout and a ground out.
After a scoreless second inning, Stetson tied the game on Vasquez's two-out RBI single in the third. The Hatters took the lead on Brandt's two-run home run to center field, opening a 3-1 advantage.
Upstate loaded the bases for the second time in the fourth inning. For the second time, Hostetler pitched out of the jam by getting a ground out to end the threat.
After missing on opportunities early, Upstate combined to score seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings to grab the lead and control of the game.
Upstate put the bases loaded difficulties behind itself and stormed back into the lead with three runs in the fifth inning. The Spartans loaded the bases and Rector drove in a run with a deep sacrifice fly to center that was just about two feet short of being a grand slam. Greeson then brought in a run with a single up the middle and another Spartan scored on an illegal pitch as Upstate opened a 4-3 lead.
Upstate padded its lead in the sixth. With runners on first and second, Landers smacked a double down the line in left to give the Spartans a 5-3 lead. Beasley then delivered the decisive blow, belting a three-run home run to right center to put the game out of reach at 8-3.
Stetson looked to make it interesting in the seventh. The Hatters scored a run to get within 8-4 and had runners on second and third. However, Shubert, who came into the game in the sixth in relief of starter Amanda Storch, struck out the final batter to earn her first save of the season and third of her career. She tossed 1 2/3 innings of work to secure the win. Storch was solid in her outing, pitching 5 1/3 innings to improve to 9-2. Hostetler fell to 14-5 on the year with the loss after allowing eight runs on 11 Upstate hits.
Although the Spartans took the four-run win, it could have been much better for Upstate and much worse for Stetson. The Spartans left 14 runners on base due in part to Hostetler walking 10 Spartans in the game.
Four Spartans finished with two hits each in the game and Beasley led the way with three RBIs.
