CULLOWHEE, N.C.  – The USC Upstate softball team dropped a pair of games to Western Carolina on Monday afternoon at the Catamount Softball Complex.
 
Western Carolina scored runs in the second, third and fourth innings to take a 3-0 lead over USC Upstate. Then in the top of the sixth, the Spartans put a pair of runners on and Savannah Grigsby (Elgin, S.C.) hit a three-run homerun over the centerfield fence to tie the game. The homerun was the first of Grigsby's career at USC Upstate. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Myra Twitty hit a walk-off RBI single to centerfield to end the game.
 
In the second game of the afternoon, the Spartans got off to a hot start offensively with RBI knocks by Madison Lanoux (Fleming Island, Fla.) and Peyton Darnell (Fort Mill, S.C.). The two-run advantage was short lived as a solo homerun in the bottom of the first cut the Spartans half in lead. In the bottom of the second inning, Western Carolina took a 3-2 lead after an RBI triple by Morgan Maddaluna. USC Upstate fired back in the fourth inning with RBI's by Sarah Price (Landrum, S.C.) and Tiffany Domingue (York, S.C.). In the bottom of the fifth, Savannah Baldwin hit a two-run triple and tied the game at five. The game went into extra innings and ended in the bottom of the eighth with a sacrifice fly by Danielle Chapman.
 
Game 1: USC Upstate 3, Western Carolina 4

Scoring Breakdown
 
Bottom 2^nd: Kailey McNeil began the inning with an infield single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Baldwin then singled in the run to break the scoreless tie between the two squads.
 
Bottom 3^rd: Morgan Maddaluna hit a one-out single to shortstop and moved to second two batters later on a Bailey Huneycutt single through the right side of the infield. A wild pitch allowed Maddaluna to score from third.
 
Bottom 4^th: Myra Twitty hit a leadoff homerun to centerfield to start the inning.
 
Top 6^th: Price began the inning with a double to left center field. Two batters later, Darnell kept the inning alive by reaching on an error by the third baseman. Grigsby made the Catamounts pay for the error with a three-run homerun to right center field.
 
Bottom 7^th: Back-to-back one out singles by the Catamounts put them in a position to score the go-ahead run. Following a lineout, Twitty hit a walk-off single to centerfield to win the game for the Catamounts.     

Notables
 
Price: 2-4, double and a run scored
Grigsby: 2-3, Homerun, 3 RBI's, 1 run scored
Domingue: 1-3
Delorenzo: 1-3

Game 2: USC Upstate 5, Western Carolina 6

Scoring Breakdown
 
Top 1^st: Price started the game with a double to left center field and came around to score on a Lanoux single up the middle. Domingue then singled to move Lanoux into scoring position and Darnell hit an RBI single into right field to give the Spartans a 2-0 advantage.
 
Bottom 1^st: With two outs in the inning, Huneycutt hit a home run over the right center field wall to cut the Spartans lead in half.
 
Bottom 2^nd: Jeralynn Wells started the inning with a single to third base and moved all the way to third in the next at-bat following a Spartan error. Maddaluna made the Spartans pay with two outs with a two-run triple to left field.
 
Top 4^th: Marisa Soterakis (Miramar, Fla.) began the inning by reaching on a fielding error by the shortstop. Back-to-back infield singles by Alexa Sanchez (Miami, Fla.) and Dezi Williams (Old Fort, N.C.) loaded the bases for the Spartans. Price hit a two-run single up the middle to give the Spartans the lead once again. Domingue hit an RBI sacrifice fly to give the Spartans a 5-3 advantage heading into the fifth inning.
 
Bottom 5^th: With one out McNeil singled through the left side of the infield. Wells singled to right field and put a pair of runners on for the Catamounts. Baldwin then tripled to right field and tied the game at 5.
 
Bottom 8^th: With the international run rule in place, Baldwin started the inning on second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. Chapman then hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to end the game in extra innings.

Notables
 
Price: 3-5, 2 RBI's and a run scored
Domingue: 2-3, RBI
Darnell: 2-4, RBI
Lanoux: 1-4, RBI and a run scored
Sanchez: 1-4, run scored
Williams 1-3, run scored
 
UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans will return to action this Wednesday with a road trip to Furman.
 
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