Akron Box Score
Savannah State Box Score
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team continued its winning ways at the Upstate Invitational on Saturday as the Spartans began the day with a 7-1 victory over the Akron Zips followed by a 14-4 win in five innings over Savannah State.
Upstate has won its first six games of the 2016 campaign and has outscored its opponents 65-10.
The Spartans conclude play at the Upstate Invitational Sunday afternoon with two games against Kent State (1 p.m.) and N.C. Central (3 p.m.).
Game 1 – Akron 1, USC Upstate 7
Holly McKinnon (2-0) tossed her second straight complete game for Upstate, while Abbie Millete had three hits and drove in three runs as the Spartans posted a 7-1 win over Akron in their first game of the afternoon.
McKinnon bested her performance from Feb. 11 at Gardner-Webb as the junior limited the Zips to just one run on two hits while striking out seven. She also walked just one batter. Paige McMenemy (0-2) gave up three runs on four hits, no walks and no strikeouts over 1.0 inning of work to take the loss.
Millete turned in a season-best performance after the junior went 3-for-4 at the plate, including two doubles, with three RBI and one run scored. Karla Beasley, Ryan Rector and Megan Obier all had two hits and one RBI.
Savannah Fruin had one hit and one RBI, and Kelly Hysong collected the other hit for Akron.
Upstate opened the game by taking an early 4-1 lead after scoring three runs in the second inning and one in the third. Just three batters into the bottom of the second, the Spartans plated two runs on a leadoff solo home run by Rector, her second of the season, and Lindsay O'Steen scored from first on a double by Millete. Millete later came home on an RBI single from Obier.
Fruin cut the Upstate advantage to 3-1 in the top of the third with her RBI single, but the Spartans answered back with a run of their own in the bottom-half of the fourth after another RBI base hit by Millete.
Upstate extended its lead to 5-1 in the fifth on Millete's third RBI of the game, an RBI double to left field. The Spartans sealed the six-run victory in the bottom of the sixth after scoring twice highlighted by Beasley's solo homer, her first of the season. Ansley Gilstrap scored Upstate's first run of the frame following an error by the Zips.
Game 2 – USC Upstate 14, Savannah State 4
Amy Szymanowski hit a pair of two-run home runs as the Spartan offense scored three or more runs in each inning.
Szymanowski went 3-for-3 with a single, three runs scored and five RBI. She hit home runs in the second and third innings. Beasley went 2-or-3 with two runs scored and three RBI while Kendsey Chappelear finished 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI. Millete was 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBI. Brittany Case scored three runs.
Amanda Hallman led Savannah State at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI. Shelby Eccles was 1-for-2 with a double and RBI.
Upstate plated five runs in the first as it batted around in the inning. Chappelear led off the game with a single and scored on a Szymanowski base hit. Beasley followed with a bases-clearing double that scored Gilstrap, Case. Szymanoski later scored on a Kori Wancheck base hit.
Savannah State answered in the second inning on a two-run double by Eccles. Case led off the home half of the inning with a base hit and stole second before Szymanowski's home run bounced off of the lower part of the left field scoreboard. Beasley hit her second double in as many at-bats and would score on a Caley Chappel single.
Hallman took advantage of a pair of Upstate walks to begin the third inning as she laced a two-run double to right center field. Amanda Storch (2-0) got out of the inning without any further damage thanks to a pair of strikeouts and a groundout.
Obier opened the home half of the third inning with a single and scored on a Chappelear single. Case would reach on a two out walk and scored on Szymanowski's second two-run home run of the game. The Spartans added three runs in the fourth on a Millette two-run homer and a Chappelear sacrifice fly.
Storch picked up her second win of the season in relief as she scattered two hits over three innings with four strikeouts. Hallman took the loss (1-2) after allowing eight runs on nine hits in two innings.
