SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate women's softball team went 2-0 on Saturday afternoon with victories over both Maine and La Salle at Cyrill Stadium as part of the Wings ETC… Classic.
USC Upstate (10-2) pounded out six runs on 10-hits in the opening game of the double-header against Maine.
Alyssa Oakes,
Peyton Darnell and
Max Barnes all had multi-hit performances for the Spartans as they rolled to an easy game one victory. Senior
Celina Sullivan threw a complete game shutout and struck out seven Black Bears in the process.
In the second game the Spartans were a little bit more methodically with their scoring as they picked up runs in both the first and sixth innings. Oakes once again had a two-hit performance as she ended the day with a total of four hits.
Erin Hill threw a complete game, one-hit shutout against the Explorers and for the second consecutive weekend the Spartans have not allowed a run through the first two games of a tournament.
Game One: USC Upstate 6, Maine 0
Scoring Breakdown
1st Inning: Sarah Price drew a full count walk to leadoff the game for the Spartans in the home half of the first inning. Price immediately stole second base and
Savannah Grigsby made Maine pay as she smoked a ball through the right side of the infield and drove Price in from second base for the first run of the game. Grigsby stole second and moved into scoring position but with two-outs in the inning the Spartans looked to rally. Freshman
Peyton Darnell doubled off the wall in left field to bring in the second run of the inning for the Spartans. Darnell stole third base a full count walk to
Alicia Dorgan, then Dorgan stole second to put a pair of runners in scoring position for the Spartans.
Max Barnes singled down the left field line and Dorgan advanced to third base on the hit.
Leading 3-0 with two outs in the inning the Spartans looked to cash-in another run just 60-feet away from the plate.
Max Barnes took off for second base, but danced around between first and second base long enough to allow Dorgan to score from third base.
5th Inning: Darnell roped an infield single on a 2-1 count to give the Spartans a leadoff baserunner. After a passed ball allowed Darnell to move into scoring position, USC Upstate once again took advantage. Dorgan singled to centerfield and advanced all the way to third base after a fielding error by the centerfielder. A few batters later and Dorgan came around to score on a wild pitch from the Black Bears.
Notables:
Oakes, Darnell and Barnes all ended the game with two-hits each, while Grigsby, Darnell, Dorgan and Barnes all tied for the team lead in RBI's. Dorgan led the team with a pair of runs scored.
In the circle
Celina Sullivan picked-up her fourth win of the season with a complete game two-hit shutout performance.
Game Two: USC Upstate 2, La Salle 0
Scoring Breakdown
1st Inning: Price reached on an error to begin the game for USC Upstate. The sophomore once again stole second and came around to score on a Grigsby RBI single.
6th Inning: With two-outs in the bottom of the inning, Oakes singled through the left side to keep the inning alive. Just one batter later, Darnell drove in pinch runner
Emily Garza with an RBI double to left center field.
Notables:
Offensively, Oakes was the only player to record a pair of hits in the second game of the double-header. Both Grigsby and Darnell picked-up RBI's in the contest.
Senior pitcher
Erin Hill threw a complete game, one-hit shutout against the Explorers. Hill struck out a quartet of players on 85 total pitches.
Next UP:
The USC Upstate softball team will be back in action tomorrow afternoon against both Virginia and Tennessee Tech. Both games can be seen on ESPN+ and live stats can be found online at
upstatespartans.com.
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