SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team returns to Cyrill Stadium this weekend to host Presbyterian College for their Big South home opener.
 
USC Upstate (13-4, 3-0 Big South) is coming off a midweek double-header sweep of South Carolina State on Wednesday afternoon. The Spartans defeated the Bulldogs 10-2 and 8-0, as their win streak increased to five games dating back to last Friday.
 
The Spartans offense pounded out five homeruns against South Carolina State. Bella Bertot (Coral Springs, Fla.) hit a pair of bombs in the second game, while Peyton Darnell (Fort Mill, S.C.), Madison Lanoux (Fleming Island, Fla.) and Bre Cooper (Massillon, Ohio) each had homeruns of their own against the Bulldogs.
 
Freshman Celeste Delorenzo (Ormond Beach, Fla.) had the best day hitting for the Spartans, going 5-6 from the plate in the series with a pair of runs and a pair or RBI's. Betot and Darnell both finished second on the team with a trio of hits each in series, but they tied for the team lead in RBI's with four each against South Carolina State.
 
USC Upstate now leads the Big South Conference in batting average (.304), double plays per game (.41), total doubles (31), doubles per game (1.82), fielding percentage (.982), on-base percentage (.381), scoring (6.18), shutouts (4), slugging percentage (.478), stolen bases per game (2.47) and win/loss percentage (.765).
 
Marisa Soterakis (Miramar, Fla.) leads the team in batting average .395, stolen bases (9) and in on-base percentage at .558. Darnell leads the team in extra base hits (10), homeruns (5), RBI's (18) and total bases (35). Sarah Price (Landrum, S.C.) is second on the team with a .368 batting average and leads the team with 21 hits.
 
Mallie Brown (Stockbridge, Ga.) and Savannah Brown (Mint Hill, N.C.) are the top pitchers in the Spartans arsenal this season. The duo has combined for 11 wins, 9 complete games, 94.2 innings pitched and 105 strikeouts this season.
 
Presbyterian College (5-3, 0-0 Big South) is playing just their ninth game all season due to COVID and weather in the Palmetto State. The Blue Hose are coming off back-to-back losses to Mercer and Western Carolina. Presbyterian's last win came on March 9^th against South Carolina State, when they defeated the Bulldogs by a final score of 3-1 in the second game of a double-header.
 
Rebecca Clark leads the Bluehose with a .500 batting average this season and an .800 slugging percentage. Jillian Hewes leads the team with eight RBI's and is tied for the team lead in hits (7) with Courtney White. Hewes is also tied for the team lead in homeruns (2) with Kiley Kross.
In the circle for the Bluehose Jenna Greene is the team's go to pitcher with a 0.00 era in a pair of starts on the season. Greene has struck out 25 batters in 13 innings of action and opponents are hitting .050 against her this season. Haley Haselden has started five games this season and has thrown four complete games. Haselden holds a 2.47 era and has struck out 30 batters in 28.1 innings of work.   
 
All three games will be shown on ESPN+ this weekend, live stats and a recap of the day's action can be found at upstatespartans.com. 
 
Attendance Policies
For the outdoor sports of baseball, softball and men's and women's soccer, face coverings will be required and social distancing protocols will be in place that will limit seating capacity in the grandstands of Harley Park (baseball), Cyrill Stadium (softball) and County-University Soccer Stadium (men's and women's soccer).  Attendees will be allowed to bring tailgate chairs to utilize the large grass berms at these venues, and game operations staff will direct fans to sit in a socially distant manner.
 
Admission is not charged for USC Upstate baseball, softball and soccer in 2021 thanks to our on-going partnership with Ingles Markets, the official grocer of the Spartans.
Schedules are subject to change at any time and the most up-to-date schedule may be found on each program's webpage at upstatespartans.com.
 
JOIN UP
Make a difference in the lives of USC Upstate student-athletes!  Donate to the USC Upstate U Club today!
 
Keep UP with the Spartans
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics
Twitter: @UpstateSoftball
Instagram: @upstatesoftball
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans