SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team won their sixth and seventh consecutive games on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep over Presbyterian College in front of a packed house at Cyrill Softball Stadium.
In the first game of the day, USC Upstate (15-4, 5-0 Big South) trailed 2-0 going into the bottom of the fifth inning. A three-run shot by
Tiffany Domingue (York, S.C.) put the Spartans ahead and they never looked back as they scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to cement the victory. Domingue led the Spartan offense with a three RBI performance,
Bre Cooper (Massillon, Ohio) finished second on the team with a pair of RBI's in the contest and
Peyton Darnell (Fort Mill, S.C.) collected a pair of hits to lead the offense.
Mallie Brown (Stockbridge, Ga.) finished with five strikeouts and picked up her seventh victory of the season.
In the second game of the afternoon, the Spartans offense got off to a hot start with a three-run bomb by Darnell in the bottom of the first inning. Rebecca Clark doubled to left field to pull Presbyterian (5-5, 0-2 Big South) within a run of the Spartans. An error by the Blue hose allowed the Spartans an insurance run in the bottom of the second inning. Kiley Kross homered to center field to once again pull Presbyterian within a run. Freshman
Nyah Vogel (Apopka, Fla.) picked up her first career win with four innings of no-hit softball.
Game 1: USC Upstate 7, Presbyterian 2
Scoring Breakdown
Top 4th: Courtney White walked with one out in the inning to give the Blue hose a base runner. Jillian Hewes then doubled to right center field and both came in to score on a Katelyn Petty single through the left side of the infield.
Bottom 5th: Sarah Price (Landrum, S.C.) reached on an error with one out in the inning and moved to second on a walk by
Bre Cooper. Domingue, then blasted a three-run homerun to centerfield to give the Spartans the lead.
Bottom 6th: Savannah Grigsby (Elgin, S.C.) singled back to the pitcher to start the inning and advanced to second on a one out walk from
Cassie Norris. Grigsby came around to score on a throwing error by the shortstop. Cooper then came through with a two-run single up the middle to break the game open for the Spartans. A few batters later, a second throwing error by the Presbyterian shortstop allowed the Spartans to score their final run of the inning.
Notables
Darnell: 2-3 with a walk
Cooper: 1-3, 2 runs, 2 RBI's
Domingue: 1-3, 1 run, 3 RBI's
Mallie Brown: 7.0 innings pitched, 2 earned runs and 5 strike outs
Game 2: USC Upstate 4, Presbyterian 3
Scoring Breakdown
Bottom 1st: Cooper singled to the shortstop with one out in the inning, Domingue singled back to the pitcher and the Spartans had a pair of runners on the board. Darnell, then smoked a three-run homerun over the centerfield wall.
Top 2nd: Hewes walked to start the inning and advanced to second on a Kross single up the middle. One batter later and Rebecca Clark doubled to left field to pull Presbyterian within a run of the Spartans.
Bottom 2nd: Grigsby was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning and moved to second on a
Marisa Soterakis ground out to short. Grigsby came around to score on an error by the Presbyterian first baseman.
Top 4th: Kross homered to start the inning and ended the scoring for the Blue Hose in the game.
Notables
Darnell: 2-for-3, 1 run and 3 RBI's
Nyah Vogel: 4.0 innings, 3 k's, 0 hits and her first collegiate win.
UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans return to Cyrill Stadium tomorrow afternoon for the third and final game of the Presbyterian series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
Spartans win today, You save tomorrow!
Save 50% off online orders at Papa John's locations across the Upstate. Use the code
USCUP50 when placing online orders the day after Upstate victories. Also tomorrow, visit The Beacon Drive-In located in Spartanburg and show the win graphic posted to the @UpstateSpartans Instagram account to claim a free sweet tea as part of the "Sweet Taste of Victory" promotion. No purchase necessary.
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