Spartans Down Dayton, Canisius in Upstate Classic Finale

Saturday, March 4

Cyrill Stadium (Upstate Classic)

1 pm

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

18-3

Dayton

8-6

Dayton

USC Upstate

3/4/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Dayton Box Score (.pdf)

Canisius Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team closed out play at the Upstate Classic on Saturday afternoon with back-to-back shutout victories as it defeated the Dayton Flyers 6-0 followed by a 4-0 triumph over the Canisius Griffins at Cyrill Stadium.

Upstate improves to 19-3 on the season, while Dayton fell to 8-6 overall and Canisius 6-7.

GAME ONE – DAYTON 0, USC UPSTATE 6

Scoring Breakdown

Bottom 1^st – The Spartans used their base running to take a 1-0 lead over the Flyers in the first. Ansley Gilstrap and Ryan Rector executed a double steal at first and third to allow Gilstrap to score the game's first run.
Bottom 2^nd – Kendsey Chappelear gave Upstate a 2-0 lead in the second on her RBI infield single that scored Megan Obier, who led off the inning with a single.
Bottom 3^rd – The Spartans added to their lead at 4-0 following a two-run frame in the third. Brittany Case was responsible for both runs after hitting her first home run of the season, a two-run blast, to right center field that also drove in Karla Beasley after she started the inning with a single.
Bottom 5^th – Upstate plated two more runs to extend its lead to 6-0. Blakely Burch started the scoring with her pinch-hit RBI single up the middle and Gilstrap followed three batters by driving in Obier on her RBI infield single.

Notables

Lexi Shubert (10-1) is unbeaten in her last 11 appearances after earning the win in game one with four scoreless innings and gave up just two hits and four walks while registering four strikeouts.
Holly McKinnon (1) earned her first save of the season after tossing three scoreless innings of relief, and had one walk and four strikeouts.
Jessica Weaver (1-1) took the loss after giving up six runs on nine hits, two walks and four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
The 14 hits recorded by the Spartans are tied for a season-high after also having 14 against Howard on Feb. 24. Upstate now has five games this season with double-digit hits.
Obier set a new career-high with four hits after going 4-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored.
Abbie Millete posted two hits while Case had a game-high two RBI.
Katie Ryan and Kailee Budicin collected the only two hits for Dayton.

GAME TWO – CANISIUS 0, USC UPSTATE 4

Scoring Breakdown

Bottom 3^rd – The Spartans broke a scoreless tie in the third by scoring twice to take a 2-0 lead. Kayla Hussey led off the inning with a double to left center field and was pinch-run for by Gemma Miller. Miller scored the game's first run when Rector reached on a fielder's choice. Rector and Chappelear then teamed up for another double steal to give Upstate a two-run advantage when Chappelear stole home and Rector went to second.
Bottom 5^th – The Spartans benefited from two Griffin errors to push their lead out to 4-0 after scoring two more runs. Chappelear scored the first run after stealing third base and coming home on a throwing error. Gilstrap then used alert base running to score all the way from second base on a wild pitch.

Notables

McKinnon (8-2) closed out her day by earning the win in game two after pitching 6.1 innings and did not allow a run on five hits, one walk and nine strikeouts.
Erika Mackie (3-4) suffered the loss throwing 6.0 innings and gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits, two walks and two strikeouts.
Obier and Hussey both led Upstate offensively with two hits each, while Rector contributed one RBI.
Lindsey Silfer had a game-high four hits for Canisius.

UP NEXT

The Spartans travel to Clearwater, Fla. Mar. 10-12 for the USF-Under Armour Invitational. Upstate is scheduled to play five games against Army West Point, Central Michigan, Purdue, Saint Joseph's and Monmouth.

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