Upstate Welcomes Jacksonville to Town for Three-Game Set, Saturday is Strikeout Cancer Day
4/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Spartanburg, S.C. – After spending the last seven games on the road, the USC Upstate softball team returns to Cyrill Stadium this weekend as it hosts the Jacksonville Dolphins in a three-game conference series.
Upstate and Jacksonville will open the series on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m., and conclude the weekend on Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader is also Strikeout Cancer Day as the Spartans join with the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) to help raise awareness and funding against cancer. All fans are encouraged to wear pink.
Upstate (29-11, 3-5) wrapped up a seven-game road trip Wednesday evening as it traveled to Western Carolina and split a doubleheader with the Catamounts. Head coach Chris Hawkins earned his 800th career win in game two as the Spartans earned a 3-0 victory. The Spartans tied a season-high in game one with four home runs as Tarynn Tirpak and Kayla Hussey both hit their first career homers. Lexi Shubert pitched her second complete game shutout of the season in the second game after limiting Western Carolina to three hits while striking out six.
Jacksonville (18-21, 2-4) is returning to conference play after taking last weekend off from competition. In the Dolphins last A-Sun series, they dropped two out of three on the road at Lipscomb. Jacksonville was defeated 4-0 at Florida State on Wednesday. The Dolphins are led offensively by Victoria Brown with a .315 average, nine home runs and 29 RBI. On the mound, Brown is 11-12 with a 2.83 ERA.
Upstate owns a 13-6 lead in the all-time series with Jacksonville and has won eight of the last ten meetings. The Spartans took two out three last season at Jacksonville, sweeping a series-opening doubleheader by scores of 7-3 and 6-4.
Fans can follow the action on www.upstatespartans.com via live stats. All three games this weekend are being streamed on ESPN3. Updates will also be posted on the Upstate softball Twitter page (@UpstateSoftball).
The Spartans remain at home on Tuesday, Apr. 12 as they host South Carolina at 6 p.m.
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