SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team will play N.C. Central at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning in hopes of beating the afternoon rain showers at Cyrill Stadium.
 
USC Upstate (2-1) is coming off a winning weekend in their opening tournament. The Spartans opened the season in wild fashion as sophomore shortstop Sarah Price (Landrum, S.C.) hit a walk-off single to push the Spartans past Bucknell in the bottom of the seventh inning. On the second day of the tournament the bats came alive as the Spartans pounded out eight runs against St. Francis on Sunday afternoon. The lone loss of the weekend came against Marshall University in a 5-3 loss on Sunday evening.
 
A pair of freshman are leading the Spartans offensively this season. Max Barnes (Purcellville, Va.) in two games went 4-for-7 at the plate and drove in five runs against Marshall and St. Francis. The freshman batted .571 on the weekend and recorded a .625 on-base percentage. Fellow freshman Tiffany Domingue (York, S.C.) hit .455 this past weekend with five hits and an RBI to her name.
 
In the circle the Spartans have a variety of pitchers this season. In two appearances this weekend Erin Hill (Maryville, Tenn.) went 1-0 and pitched 8.1 innings. In her first outing of the season Hill struck out a career high 11 batters against Bucknell. Fellow senior Celina Sullivan (Albuquerque, N.M.) pitched 6.0 innings this week and struck out six in the process. Mallie Brown (Stockbridge, Ga.) went five complete innings and posted a 1.40 era in her first outing of the season.
 
This will be the first game of the season for N.C. Central when they travel to Cyrill Stadium on Wednesday morning. The Eagles went 23-26 overall last season and 10-5 in conference play, while finishing fourth in the MEAC Tournament.
 
Last season the Eagles made a trip to Cyrill Stadium as part of a tournament USC Upstate hosted. The Spartans blitzed the Eagles with a three-run first inning, a five-run second inning and a six-run fourth inning to take a 14-0 win over N.C. Central.  
 
UP next for the Spartans
USC Upstate will stay at home this weekend as they host their second consecutive tournament from Friday to Sunday. Games will begin at 11:00 a.m. each day and the Spartans first game will be against Maryland Eastern Shore at 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon.  

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