MID-WEEK MATCHUP 

April 4, 2023 | 2:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M.

USC Upstate (27-9; 4-5 Big South) vs. North Carolina A&T (8-23; 3-6 CAA)   

Cyrill Stadium | Spartanburg, S.C. 

Live Stats: Upstate vs. North Carolina A&T 

Watch: ESPN+ | Game One | Game Two  

Overview:  

The USC Upstate softball team will return to the comfortable confines of Cyrill Stadium for the first time since their Big South opening sweep of Charleston Southern last month. The Spartans return from a road slate which saw them go 2-6 against the likes of Campbell, Furman, and Longwood.  

The midweek double-header comes against a familiar foe which the Spartans have had success against.  North Carolina A&T is coming off a series win against CAA rival Hofstra University, but the Aggies have struggled historically against the Spartans. Upstate leads the series 9-0 and won their last meeting 11-0 in five innings. The Spartans shut out the at the time, Big South Aggies in the three-game series last year in Greensboro. Since their first meeting in 2009, the Spartans have allowed a single run to NC A&T and have outscored the Aggies 64-1, averaging 7.11 runs per game. 

Players to Watch:  

USC Upstate: The Spartans dropped the weekend series to Longwood 1-2, but their win Friday showed how potent their offense can be. Senior Tiffany Domingue's rattled off two home runs herself with Casey Goguts leaving no doubt in the game, blasting a shot outside the park herself. Domingue collected six hits across all three games while Summer Johnson had five of her own. The Spartans had plenty of opportunities to showcase their speed as Taliyah Thomas and Denver Lauer both picked up three stolen bases over the course of the series.  

Even with their recent struggles, the Spartans are still the class of the Big South in several major statistical categories. Upstate leads the conference in batting average (.313) and is the only team batting above .300, home runs (31), RBI (162), and stolen bases/attempts (100/119, no other team has more than 70 steals or more than 85 attempts). 

Nationally, the Spartans are maintaining their elite standing in many statistics. They are now fifth in stolen bases per game (2.88) and sixth in earned run average (1.42). Upstate also holds top-fifty rankings in win/loss percentage (T-19th, .794), batting average (26th, .315), slugging percentage (32nd, .498), triples per game (T-38th, .29), fielding percentage (48th, .971), and home runs per game (49th, .91). 

N.C. A&T: The Aggies ended a 7-game losing streak with a Saturday double-header win thanks to the arm of freshman Megan Ellis. She also added two hits and a run and an RBI to her total. Sierra Baldwin also found offensive success during her time in game two, collecting three hits, an RBI and a run on four plate appearances. Ellis leads the Aggies' pitching staff with a 4-2 record, 2.84 ERA, 12 earned runs allowed, 11 strikeouts, and 38.0 innings pitched. Dezianna Patmon helps lead the Aggies' offense with a .329 batting average, 28 hits, 11 doubles, 47 total bases, and a .553 slugging percentage. Jai Deese and Jocelyn Bennett have also assisted in the Aggies scoring with three homeruns each. 

Big South Standings 

Campbell (8-1, 26-9) 

Longwood (4-1, 17-11) 

Gardner-Webb (3-2, 14-23) 

Winthrop (5-4, 23-14) 

USC Upstate (4-5, 27-9) 

Charleston Southern (3-5, 13-18) 

Radford (1-5, 10-20) 

Presbyterian (0-5, 19-13) 

UP NEXT FOR THE SPARTANS 

The Spartans have their penultimate home series of the year this weekend with the Winthrop Eagles, which is shaping up to be a pivotal series for the Big South standings. Following that, Upstate will be back on the road for a single game against the Wolfpack of N.C. State on Tuesday evening. 

Connect with the Spartans    
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics    
Twitter | @UpstateSoftball @UpstateSpartans    
Instagram | @UpstateSoftball @UpstateSpartans    
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans   

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