THIS WEEKENDS MATCHUPS
vs. Winthrop (11-21)
April 1 | 4:00 p.m.
April 1 | 6:00 p.m.
April 2 | 1:00 p.m.
*Note all games are subject to change due to inclement weather
Live Stats: Live stats will be available for all contests this week and can be accessed through upstatespartans.com.
Spartanburg S.C. - Upstate softball returns to Big South competition as Winthrop comes to Cyrill Stadium to play a double-header on Friday evening and one game on Saturday afternoon.
The Spartans are coming off a double-header sweep of East Tennessee State on Wednesday afternoon. Game one finished with a 4-0 win as Celeste Delorenzo hit her first career grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning. Hannah Houge pitched her fifth game with double-digit strikeouts, her eighth individual shutout of the season as well as her 15th complete game of the season.
Game two played out differently as Upstate took an early lead with one run from Sarah Price in the bottom of the first, followed by Denver Lauer and Bella Bertot earning one run each in the bottom of the second. Lauer put the final run on the board as she came home off a sacrificed fly from Alexa Sanchez who had her second start of the season as the second baseman. Alyssa Kelly pitched her 10th complete game as she surrendered no runs for the fourth time this season.
Upstate is ranked third in winning percentage, sixth in ERA, sixth in shutouts, 11th in strikeouts per walks, 11th in stolen bases per game and 16th in fielding percentage. Darnell is ranked individually for RBI (fourth) and home runs (16th). Sarah Price is ranked 11th in the nation for stolen bases (21). This is also the fourth week in a row that USC Upstate Softball has received votes for the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll and for the ESPN Collegiate Top 25 Poll.
Winthrop is coming off a pair of losses after playing Coastal Carolina in a mid-week double-header. The Eagles fell 2-0 in game one and fell 5-3 in game two in nine innings as the game was deadlocked at three runs each after seven innings.
Upstate leads the Big South standings with a 7-2 record, .912 win percentage, whereas Winthrop sits at fifth with a 5-4 record, .556 win percentage. The two teams have only faced one of the same Big South competitors, Radford. Upstate beat Radford last weekend 5-3, 6-1, and 14-3, earning its first three-game series sweep; Winthrop lost the series 2-1 with a 3-0 win in game one followed by a 11-6 loss in game two and 3-2 loss in game three.
Players to Watch:
USC Upstate (31-3, 7-2 Big South):
Summer Johnson leads Upstate with a .396 batting average, while Madison Lanoux leads with 31 runs and 41 hits. Both Johnson and Lanoux are two of the four Spartans that have started all 34 games with the last three being Peyton Darnell, Sarah Price and Marisa Soterakis. Darnell leads Upstate with a .708 slugging percentage after recording 11 home runs, 42 RBI and 68 total bases.
Winthrop (11-21, 5-4 Big South):
Macy McCall is the only Eagle to have started all 32 of Winthrop's contests this season. She holds a .313 batting average long with 28 runs, 30 hits, two home runs, 11 RBI, and leads the team with 44 total bases. McCall also holds a .458 slugging percentage.
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Sparty's Ball and Auction:
Reserve your tickets for Sparty's Ball and Auction featuring The Andrews Brothers Dueling Pianos, Saturday, May 21, 2022 at upstatespartans.com/spartysball.
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