Game 1 Box Score (.pdf)
Game 2 Box Score (.pdf)
Spartanburg, S.C. – The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles opened a three-game series with the USC Upstate softball team on Friday afternoon by sweeping the Spartans in a doubleheader at Cyrill Stadium.
Florida Gulf Coast began the series by winning game one 3-0 before taking the second game by a score of 10-2 in five innings.
Upstate and FGCU conclude their three-game series Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. on ASun.TV.
Game 1 – FGCU 3, USC Upstate 0
Riley Randolph tossed a complete game shutout and Racquel Fournet had two RBI as the Eagles took the series opener over the Spartans 3-0.
Randolph (7-2) limited Upstate to four hits and did not allow a walk while striking out four. Holly McKinnon (16-2) suffered the loss after tallying her 12th complete game of the season, giving up three runs on six hits, no walks and six strikeouts.
Kendsey Chappelear led the Spartans with two hits, while Amy Szymanowski and Tarynn Tirpak had one each. Six different FGCU batters collected one hit and Fournet drove in a game-high two runs.
McKinnon retired 10 of the first 12 batters she faced until Louie Ross gave Florida Gulf Coast a 1-0 lead with one out in the top of the fourth. Ross took a 3-1 delivery from McKinnon and homered over the left field fence to give FGCU the one-run lead.
Upstate looked the strike first in the bottom of the third as it put two runners on with singles by Chappelear and Tirpak. Randolph would hold the Spartans scoreless after getting out of the inning on a line out.
Fournet extended the Eagles lead to 3-0 in the sixth following her two-run homer over the fence in right field.
Upstate brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh as it rallied to put two runners on base after a single from Szymanowski and an FGCU throwing error. Randolph closed out the game by recording her fourth strikeout to give Florida Gulf Coast the 3-0 game one win.
Game 2 – FGCU 10, USC Upstate 2 (5)
The Spartans fell in game two, 10-2, as Michaela Hynes recorded four RBI for FGCU, and Fournet and LuLu Newmark both had two RBI.
Taylor Wade (5-6) picked up the win after tossing 4.0 innings and surrendered two runs on five hits, two walks and no strikeouts. Amanda Storch (7-2) took the loss as she allowed five runs on eight hits, three walks and one strikeout in 4.2 innings of work.
Szymanowski, Karla Beasley and Megan Obier all had two hits for Upstate, while Obier drove in two runs. Four Eagles contributed two hits and Hynes led all players with four RBI.
Florida Gulf Coast led 2-0 after scoring twice in the top of the first on Fournet's home run to left center field, but Obier tied the score 2-2 in the bottom of the second with her two-run single down the left field line. Szymanowski and Ansley Gilstrap both scored on Obier's hit after reaching on a pair of singles.
The Eagles broke the game open as they posted eight runs over a two-inning stretch after plating three in the third and five in the fourth to take a 10-2 lead. Newmark had two RBI on her single in the fourth and Hynes added an RBI sacrifice fly with one out. Hynes drove in three runs on her double off the left field wall in the fourth. Makensie McAvoy began the scoring for FGCU in the fourth with her RBI single to right field.
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