SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team fell twice on Saturday afternoon by a total of two runs to Longwood University at Lancer Field.
 
In the first game of the double header, the Spartans and the Lancers broke out into a pitchers dual as hits came at a premium for both sides. Longwood (26-25) got on the board first with an RBI double from Destiny Martinez in the second inning. In the top of the fourth inning, USC Upstate (25-15) clawed their way onto the scoreboard. Peyton Darnell (Fort Mill, S.C.) drew a two out walk and Dezi Williams (Old Fort, N.C.) came in to pinch run. Williams stole second and moved into scoring position, Savannah Grigsby (Elgin, S.C.) drove in Williams with an infield single to tie up the game.
 
In the top of the fifth inning, Leah Powell began the inning by being hit by a pitch. Powell stole second and moved to third on a fly out to right field. Madison Blair laid down a sacrifice bunt and scored Powell from third to give the Lancers the go-ahead run.     
 
In the second game of the double header, the Spartans offense got off to a hot start by scoring the first three runs of the game. Sarah Price (Landrum, S.C.) began the game with a leadoff single to left centerfield and came around to score on a RBI single by Darnell. In the third inning, Tiffany Domingue (York, S.C.) drew a four pitch walk and advanced to third on a Darnell single to left field. Domingue came around to score on an infield single from Bre Cooper (Massillon, Ohio), two batters later and Marisa Soterakis (Miramar, Fla.) doubled in the second run of the inning.
 
In the bottom of the third inning, Longwood loaded the bases against the Spartans with no outs. The Lancers scored seven runs in the inning, behind RBI knocks from Martinez, Carr and Green.
 
The Spartans began to cut into the Lancers 7-3 lead in the top of the fourth inning. Price began the inning with a one out single to second base and stole second to move into scoring position. A fielding error allowed Price to move third and she came around to score on a wild pitch.
 
In the fifth inning, the Spartans offense came alive once again as they plated four runs in the inning and took back the lead at 8-7. Domingue tied the game with a two-run double to right center field, Darnell recorded the go ahead runs with a two-run single to left center field.
 
Mason Basdikis hurt the Spartans the most down the stretch with the game tying RBI in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the eighth, Basdikis hit the walk-off sacrifice fly to give the Lancers the win.
 
Game One: USC Upstate 1, Longwood 2

Scoring Breakdown


Bottom 2^nd: Destiny Martinez RBI double to center field scored the first run of the game.  
 
Top 4^th: Infield single from Savannah Grigsby scored Dezi Williams from third to tie the game.
 
Bottom 5^th: Madison Blair with an RBI sacrifice bunt scored the go-ahead run for the Lancers.

Notables
Grigsby: 1-3, RBI
M. Brown: 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 6 K's

Game Two: USC Upstate 8, Longwood 9 (8 inn.)
 
Scoring Breakdown
 
Top 1^st: Darnell singled to right field to score Price for the games opening run.
 
Top 3^rd: Cooper and Soterakis both recorded RBI knocks to give the Spartans a 3-0 advantage.
 
Bottom 3^rd: A two-run single from Martinez put the Lancers on the board, a throwing error by the Spartans allowed two runs to score and keep the inning alive. Carr recorded a sacrifice fly to center field and a two-run homerun by Green gave the Lancers a 7-3 lead.
 
Top 4^th: A wild pitch from Longwood allowed Price to score from third.
 
Top 5^th: Domingue and Darnell both had a pair of RBI knocks in the fifth inning.
 
Bottom 6^th: An RBI single from Basdikis tied the game at 8.
 
Bottom 8^th: Basdikis hit an RBI Sacrifice fly to end the game.

Notables
Price: 4-5, 3 runs
Domingue: 2-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI's
Darnell: 3-4, 3 RBI's
Cooper: 1-4, run, RBI
Soterakis: 1-4, RBI

UP next for the Spartans
USC Upstate will play their final regular season game of the 2021 campaign tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
 
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