Upstate Hosts South Carolina State Wednesday in Non-Conference Finale
4/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team returns to action for the first time in a week on Wednesday as it hosts the South Carolina State Bulldogs in a doubleheader, as well as its non-conference finale, beginning at 3 p.m. from Cyrill Stadium.
In its last game on April 13, Upstate dropped a 1-0 decision at home to South Carolina in a battle of two teams from the Palmetto State. Lexi Shubert recorded her sixth complete game of the season after limiting South Carolina to just one run on six hits, while allowing no walks and striking out five. Ansley Gilstrap led the Spartans offense with two hits, and Brittany Case and Ryan Rector collected one apiece.
South Carolina State (4-20) is under the direction of first-year head coach Cheretta Stevenson. The Bulldogs have lost 11 games in a row following a weekend sweep by Bethune-Cookman in Orangeburg. South Carolina State is led offensively by Cianna Burt with a .313 average, while Unique Whitehurst has 11 RBI. On the mound, Keirra Cromer leads the Bulldogs with three victories.
Upstate and South Carolina State are meeting for the third and fourth time in program history. The Spartans hold a 2-0 lead in the all-time series after sweeping the Bulldogs in a doubleheader on Mar. 8, 2014 by scores of 8-0 and 15-0, with both contests ending in five innings.
Fans can follow the action on www.upstatespartans.com via live stats. Both games are being streamed on ASun.TV. Updates will also be posted on the Upstate softball Twitter page (@UpstateSoftball).
The Spartans wrap up their home schedule this weekend with a three-game conference series against Kennesaw State.
Spartans Ranked No. 51 in Latest NCAA RPI
The NCAA announced its latest RPI ranking earlier this week and Upstate is ranked No. 51 among 295 Division I softball programs, up six spots from last week's listing.
The Spartans are the top-ranked A-Sun school in the RPI. The conference has all seven teams ranked in the Top 150. Following Upstate in the ranking is Jacksonville (92), Lipscomb (103), Stetson (104), Florida Gulf Coast (115), Kennesaw State (117) and North Florida (145). The RPI is a key tool used by the NCAA Selection Committee for at-large selections to the NCAA Tournament.
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