MID-WEEK MATCHUP 

April 19, 2023 | 6:30 p.m.

USC Upstate (31-14, 7-8 Big South) vs. No. 9 Georgia (33-10, 12-5 SEC) 

Turner Softball Stadium | Athens, Ga.  

Live Stats: Upstate vs Georgia 

Watch: Upstate vs. No. 9 Georgia

Overview: 

For the second week in a row, the USC Upstate softball team will be competing with a power Five opponent for a midweek bout. The competition this time will be even higher as the Spartans head to Athens, Georgia to face off with the ninth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. The Spartans are coming off a Big South series victory against the Radford Highlanders and made a strong statement with a 17-3, 15 hit showing in game three. Tiffany Domingue and Casey Goguts both crushed homeruns in the matchup while five Spartans stole a base, with Denver Lauer adding three to her conference leading total of 33. Freshman Maddie Drerup had the best performance of the her young career so far as she finished the series with a 0.72 ERA and two wins after 12.1 total innings pitched, 11 combined strikeouts and a combined 232 pitches. 

The Bulldogs dropped their series with the fifteenth-ranked Florida Gators but managed to take the final game of the series with an 8-2 score. The Bulldogs have a 6 to 1 record over their last seven games at home.  As far as history is concerned, the Spartans trail the Bulldogs in the eight-game series with two wins to Georgia's six. Upstate took the Bulldogs to extra innings in their matchup last season, but Georgia was able to add on two runs in the eighth to secure the win. The Spartans last won in Athens in 2015 by a score of 4-3.  

Players to Watch: 

USC Upstate: Denver Lauer, Tiffany Domingue, Casey Goguts, Summer Johnson, and Sarah Price all had multi-hit performances while Lauer and Domingue added four RBIs to the score. In addition, Lauer stole three bases to bring her incredible total to 33 and is now 33 of 34 on steals this season (.97%). Domingue and Goguts both reached 11 homeruns on the season during the final game against the Highlanders. Goguts and Drerup were recognized for their efforts last week as they both earned Big South weekly honors for the first time in their careers. 

Upstate is a thousandth of a percentage point away from the conference lead in batting average with a mark of .296. The Spartans are the only team below 2.00 with a 1.73 ERA and are still the only team in the Big South to attempt over 100 steals, sitting at a comfortable success rate of 124-148.  

Nationally, the Spartans are sixth in steals per game, averaging 2.76 while Denver Lauer is sixth for individual steals with 33. The team's 1.73 ERA is good for tenth in the nation while Alyssa Kelly's individual average of 1.45 is 25th. In addition, the Spartans are 45th and 46th in win/loss percentage and slugging percentage with a .463 and a .689 in those categories respectively.  

Georgia: The Bulldogs boast impressive firepower on their roster as they have five athletes with at least 25 RBIS and three at 40 even. Jayda Kearney leads the team with a .380 batting average and is one of the three Bulldogs with 40 RBIs to her name, despite having 28 free bases on the year. Sydney Kuma and Sara Mosley are the other two Bulldogs with 40 RBIs and are above .300 as well. Shelby Walters leads the Bulldogs pitching staff with a 1.45 ERA and a 15-3 record. Walters holds four of the six saves the Bulldogs have and leads in innings pitched 125.2 while having recorded 86 strikeouts. 

Big South Standings: 

Campbell (11-3, 30-12) 

Longwood (8-3, 21-15) 

Winthrop (8-7, 26-17) 

USC Upstate (7-8, 31-14) 

Charleston Southern (6-8, 17-22) 

Gardner-Webb (5-7, 16-28) 

Presbyterian (4-7, 23-15) 

Radford (3-9, 13-25) 

UP NEXT FOR THE SPARTANS 

The Spartans are not done with the Bulldogs this week as they will be playing the Runnin' Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb in a pivotal Big South series this weekend.  

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Twitter | @UpstateSoftball @UpstateSpartans      
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YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans     

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