Box Score (PDF)

Fort Myers, Fla. – A day after USC Upstate scored 13 runs in its A-Sun Tournament opener against North Florida and Lipscomb gutted out a 1-0 victory over Stetson, a pitcher's duel was the theme of the day in the winners' bracket title game. In the end, Karla Beasley's grand slam in the bottom of the seventh delivered the 4-0 win for the Spartans and pushed Upstate into Championship Saturday.

Upstate got a standout performance by starting pitcher Lexi Shubert. She tossed her second consecutive complete game, held a potent Lipscomb offense to two hits and struck out nine batters to improve to 32-5 on the year. More importantly, she kept the Spartans in the game midway through the game as Upstate's offense looked to catch fire.

"Lipscomb is a very well-coached team," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "They have two really good pitchers, so whenever we go into battle with them, it is going to be a great game. Tanner Sanders did a great job keeping us off-balance. We did what we had to do to win."

Upstate improved to 42-8 with the win and advances to Championship Saturday to face the winner of the loser's bracket at 1 p.m. Saturday. If the Spartans do not win the 1 p.m. game, the A-Sun Tournament championship will be decided with a second game 30 minutes after the completion of the 1 p.m. contest. The Spartans will be gunning for their second A-Sun Tournament championship in the last three seasons.

After a scoreless first inning, Lipscomb looked to make some noise in the second. The Bisons put runners on second and third with one out, but Upstate starter Lexi Shubert struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam and keep the game scoreless.

Upstate looked to make some noise of its own in the bottom of the third, but came away empty as well as the game moved to the fourth in a scoreless tie. The Spartans loaded the bases and Beasley, the star of Upstate's 13-1 win over North Florida in Upstate's A-Sun opener Thursday, lifted a fly ball to right field. Hayley Reinfeld, who doubled with one out to start things off in the inning, tagged at third. However, Lipscomb right fielder Gracey Aguirre threw her out at the plate to keep the Spartans off the board.

Lipscomb starter Tanner Sanders got out of a bases loaded jam again in the fifth inning to send the game into its later stages in a scoreless tie. Upstate loaded the bases with two outs after Beasley drew a walk. However, Sanders got Kendall Settlemyre to fly out to center to end the inning. When the fifth came to a close, the Spartans had left eight runners on base in the game with Sanders able to get out of dangerous situations throughout.

While Upstate gave itself some opportunities at the plate, Shubert was dealing in the circle. She retired 15 in a row from the second inning to the seventh.

Beasley's late-game heroics came after Reinfeld led off the inning with an infield single. Aly Schneider followed with a single to put runners on the corners with no outs and the middle of the order coming to the plate. After Shellie Robinson was walked for the fourth time in the game, Beasley drove a low and outside pitch over the wall in center to put the Spartans into Championship Saturday in the A-Sun Tournament.

"Lexi did an unbelievable job in limiting them to two hits," said Hawkins. "We played good defense behind her and it was just a matter of time that we broke through. Loading the bases two times before the seventh and not getting anyone to score didn't deter our team. We stayed focused at the task at hand, did the things we had to do and came up big in the seventh. I believe everyone in our lineup is capable of doing what Karla has done, but I am so proud of her for doing what she has done so far."

Notes:

• Upstate is now 5-4 all-time against Lipscomb in the A-Sun Tournament.
• With four walks today, Shellie Robinson has now been walked six times in two games in the A-Sun Tournament. She set a new A-Sun Championship record with four walks in today's game. The previous mark of three came in 2010 by Stetson's Jessica Lokeinky.
• Karla Beasley's grand slam to win the game was the eighth grand slam of the season for the Spartans.
• Lexi Shubert has now struck out 17 batters in two games in the A-Sun Tournament.