Softball 4/28/2022 9:00:00 AM

Upstate Prepares Its for Final Home Series of the Season Against Hampton

USC Upstate (42-7, 16-5 Big South) vs. Hampton (19-30, 7-14 Big South)

April 29 | 4:00 p.m.
*senior ceremony will immediately follow the conclusion of the match*

April 30 | 12:00 p.m.

April 30 | 2:00 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.

Watch: All games this weekend will be streamed via ESPN+ and Saturday's games will be simulcast on WYCW-TV CW62 as part of the Ingles/Nexstar Game of the Week package. Follow the links below to access both games via ESPN+

Game One: Hampton vs. South Carolina Upstate (Softball) | Watch ESPN

Game Two: Hampton vs. South Carolina Upstate (Softball) | Watch ESPN

Game Three: Hampton vs. South Carolina Upstate (Softball) | Watch ESPN

Spartanburg S.C. - Following its first Big South series loss, USC Upstate gets ready to host its final home contests as Hampton University comes to Cyrill Stadium. Upstate will honor its five seniors immediately following the conclusion of Friday's contest.

To start the week, Upstate went head-to-head with #13 Georgia in an eight-inning match. Both Peyton Darnell and Tiffany Domingue hit dingers out of the park while Hannah Houge had six strikeouts on the day. Later in the week, Upstate fell 12-4 in game one and 5-4 in game two against Gardner-Web. Game three proved to be a different story as the Spartans walked away with a 7-0 shutout to finish the weekend. Houge pitched 7.0 innings in game three and threw a season high 15 strikeouts.

Houge retained national rankings following last week's performances. She still sits second-place nationally for victories (25) and for shutouts (14), along with still being one of three pitchers in the nation to achieve double-digit shutouts for the season. Houge is also ranked eighth for strikeouts (236), 10th for innings pitched (169.2), 28th for strikeouts/ 7.0 innings pitched (9.7), 35th for ERA (1.57), and 43rd for hits/ 7.0 innings pitched (4.58).

Kelly joins Houge in national rankings as she is ranked 13th in walks/7.0 innings pitched (0.83), 16th for strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.20), 21st for shutouts (6) and 32nd in ERA (1.55). Peyton Darnell is ranked third for RBI (58), 10th for RBI/game (1.18), 22nd for home runs (15), and 39th for total bases (101). Sarah Price is ranked 12th for stolen bases (31), 19th for stolen bases/game (.63), and 37th for the toughest to strikeout (19.0).  Summer Johnson also holds a spot in the national rankings coming in at 27th for the toughest to strikeout (22.2) as did Marisa Soterakis at seventh for sacrificed bunts per game (.29).

Upstate sits with several national rankings, with their highest ranking being second for shutouts (21), along with fourth for winning percentage (.857), seventh for fielding percentage (.979), eighth for ERA (1.77), ninth for stolen bases per game (2.29), 10th for strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.55), 13th for doubles (74), and 20th for batting average (.317). Upstate sits with a 68 RPI going into this week, with the closest Big South team being Campbell with 79.

Hampton is coming off a 2-1 series loss against Radford this past weekend. The Pirates fell 4-1 in game one on Friday followed by a 4-3 loss on Saturday to kick off the double-header. However, in game three the Pirates were able to shut out the highlanders in a 4-0 win.

Upstate remains at the top of the Big South with a 16-5 record, while Hampton is eighth with a 7-14 conference record. The two teams have squared off against four of the same Big South competitors so far this season, here is how they stacked up:

Upstate (16-5):

Vs. Winthrop (W, 4-0/ W, 6-0/ W, 9-0)

Vs. Radford (W, 5-3/ W, 6-1/ W, 14-3)

Vs. Campbell (W, 4-2/ W, 5-3/ L, 6-3)

Vs. N.C. A&T (W, 9-0/ W, 5-0/ W, 11-0)

Vs. Gardner-Webb (L, 12-4/ L, 5-4/ W, 7-0)

Vs. Longwood (L, 7-1/ W, 5-3/ W, 2-0)

Hampton (7-14):

Vs. Winthrop (L, 3-1/ W, 5-3/ W, 11-1)

Vs. Radford (W, 4-0/ L, 4-3/ L, 4-1)

Vs. Campbell (L, 2-1/ L, 5-0/ W, 3-2)

Vs. N.C. A&T (W, 2-0/ W, 7-3/ L, 6-3)

Vs. Gardner-Webb (L, 2-1/ L, 8-7/ W, 5-2)

Vs. Longwood (L, 4-1/ L, 12-2/ L, 4-0)

Amongst Big South competitors, Upstate leads for batting (.317), pitching (1.77), and fielding (.979). Summer Johnson leads the Big South for hitting while Peyton Darnell also sits in the top ten (10). Alyssa Kelly leads the Big South for pitching with a 1.55 ERA while Hannah Houge sits just behind her with a 1.57 ERA. Mady Lanoux continues to lead the conference in fielding with a 1.000 fielding percentage while Casey Goguts sits in the top ten as well (9).

Players to Watch:

USC Upstate (42-7, 16-5 Big South):

Peyton Darnell put in work this week as she went 7-13, recording three runs, seven RBI, and three home runs along with earning a .538 batting average and a 1.308 slugging percentage. Darnell leads Upstate this season with 101 total bases, 58 RBI, and 15 home runs as well as having 48 hits, 16 runs, and a .743 slugging percentage.

Darnell earned Big South Player of the Week honors for the third time this season.

Hampton (19-33, 7-14 Big South):

Janae Lyles started 43 of 46 games for the Pirates. Lyles leads Hampton with six home runs, 79 total bases, 27 RBI, 49 hits, and a .572 slugging percentage. She sits with a .355 batting average and 19 runs.

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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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