Box Score (.pdf)

Jacksonville, Fla. – The USC Upstate softball team dropped a 4-3 decision to the North Florida Ospreys Sunday afternoon in its regular season finale at the UNF Softball Complex.

Upstate ends its regular season with a 39-13 overall record and 11-6 mark in the A-Sun, while North Florida improves to 20-29 on the season and 6-12 in conference play.

Lexi Shubert (7-5) suffered the loss in relief after throwing 5.2 innings and gave up one run on two hits, no walks and three strikeouts. Logan Green (9-15) earned the win tossing 2.1 scoreless innings of relief and surrendered two hits, no walks and no strikeouts.

Brittany Case led the Spartans offensively with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, while Amy Szymanowski, Karla Beasley and Abbie Millete each had an RBI. Navia Penrod had two hits for the Ospreys and Minnie Cocuzza drove in two runs.

Upstate left the bases loaded in the top of the first before North Florida took an early 3-0 lead after plating three runs in the bottom-half of the inning. Starter Amanda Storch allowed a leadoff single to Penrod and scored the next at-bat on Katie Mandigo's RBI double to center field. Cocuzza would then make it 3-0 with one out following her two-RBI double to left center field.

Shubert, who came on in relief of Storch in the first, retired 11 of the next 12 batters she faced as the Spartans tied the game 3-3 after scoring once in the fourth and twice during the fifth. Millete made it 3-1 in the top of the fourth when she hit her seventh home run of the season over the center field fence. With two outs in the fifth, Szymanowski and Beasley posted back-to-back RBI singles to even the score at 3-3.

The Ospreys answered with a single run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 4-3 lead. Lexi Taylor and Penrod started the frame with two straight singles, and were sacrificed to second and third by Mandigo. Taylor scored on Shelby Duncan's RBI sacrifice fly to center field.

Upstate looked to tie the game in the sixth after Case singled to start the frame. Case then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kori Wancheck before Logan Green retired Megan Obier. Kendsey Chappelear then singled to center field and Case attempted to score from second base. Case would be thrown out at home by Taylor, preserving the one-run lead for UNF.

The Spartans return to action on Thursday, May 12 in their first game of the 2016 A-Sun Softball Championship. Upstate will face the winner of the Stetson/Jacksonville game at 10 a.m. from the FGCU Softball Complex in Fort Myers, Fla.

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