Game 1 Box Score (.pdf)
Game 2 Box Score (.pdf)
Boiling Springs, N.C. – The USC Upstate softball team opened its 2016 season Thursday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs from Brinkley Softball Stadium. Upstate won game one 6-3 and followed in game two with a 10-0 triumph.
The Spartans improve to 2-0 this season while Gardner-Webb falls to 0-2 overall.
Upstate returns to Cyrill Stadium next weekend (Feb. 19-21) as it hosts the Upstate Invitational. The Spartans will take on Oakland, N.C. Central, Akron, Savannah State and Kent State during the three-day tournament.
Game 1 – Upstate 6, Gardner-Webb 3
Upstate had eight stolen bases and recorded 11 hits en route to its 18th consecutive season-opening victory dating back to the 1999 campaign. Eight different Spartans had a hit in the opener led by Ryan Rector, Brittany Case and Kendsey Chappelear with two each. A total of six players drove in one run during the opener.
Lexi Shubert (1-0) earned her 48th career complete game after striking out nine batters while surrendering three runs on eight hits and three walks.
The eight stolen bases tallied by Upstate are the most in a game since stealing eight against North Carolina Central on Mar. 2, 2012.
Gardner-Webb struck for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-out RBI double by Amanda Gomes, but would be held scoreless over the next five innings as the Spartans posted six unanswered runs.
Ansley Gilstrap tied the score at 1-1 in the top of the second with her single to right field scoring Case, who led off the inning with a single to left field. Rector and Case gave Upstate a 3-1 lead in its half of the third after Rector drove in Amy Szymanowski, and later came home on an RBI single to right field.
The Spartans broke the game open courtesy of a three-run fourth inning highlighted by an RBI triple from Megan Obier to start the scoring. Szymanowski followed two batters later by plating Obier on her RBI double and Karla Beasley added a run with her sacrifice fly to center field.
The Runnin' Bulldogs attempted a late comeback in the bottom of the seventh by scoring two runs off Shubert. Gomes brought in both runs on a single to left field before Shubert ended the game by getting Megan Champion to pop out to second and striking out Madi Lewis.
Gomes was one of three players for Gardner-Webb to have two hits and drove in all three runs.
Game 2 – Upstate 10, Gardner-Webb 0
Lindsay O'Steen had three hits and four RBI, and Holly McKinnon (1-0) tossed a complete game in her Upstate debut, as the Spartans completed the sweep of the Runnin' Bulldogs with a 10-0 victory in game two.
O'Steen also started her career at Upstate in style as the junior went 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBI and two runs scored, while Case was 3-for-4 to go with three runs and two RBI.
McKinnon limited Gardner-Webb to only one hit over the first five innings. The junior gave up just four hits while striking out eight and surrendering one walk.
The Spartans wasted little time taking a lead in game two as they plated five runs to go ahead 5-0 after the first inning. O'Steen and Abbie Millete sparked the inning for Upstate as both had two RBI hits, and Case began the scoring with her one-out RBI single.
The Spartans added a single run each in the third and fourth innings to increase their advantage to 7-0. O'Steen drove in her third run of the game on an RBI double in the third and Gilstrap extended the lead to seven with her RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth.
O'Steen hit her first home run of the season with a two-run blast in the seventh inning as part of a three-run frame. In the previous at-bat, Case doubled to right field and scored Kristen Wright from first.
Four different Runnin' Bulldogs had one hit each during game two.
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