Thursday's Double-header 

April 5, 2023 | 4:00 P.M. & 6:00 P.M. 

USC Upstate (28-10, 4-5 Big South) vs Winthrop (23-14, 5-4 Big South) 

Cyrill Stadium | Spartanburg, S.C

Live Stats: NCAT 1 UPST 3 Final (upstatespartans.com) 
*Live Stats Only*
 

Overview: 

The USC Upstate softball team is coming off a mid-week split against North Carolina A&T. Upstate began the series, dropping game one 3-2, but finished strong, taking game two 3-1.  Summer Johnson had a multi-hit game in game one while Sarah Price was the only Spartans to be able to connect and have a hit in both game against the Aggies. Maddie Drerup threw her eighth complete game of the year and struck out four Aggies in the process to earn her 10th win of the season. The Eagles are coming off a series loss to Gardner-Webb, with the defining statement of the series being a 10-2 loss to the Runnin' Bulldogs in game three. Upstate leads the series with Winthrop 10-6 and enjoyed a shutout sweep in last year's home series.  

Players to Watch: 

Upstate: Celeste Delorenzo drove home two runs in a comeback attempt for the Spartans in game one, bringing pinch runners Taliyah Thomas and Caroline Jacquay home. Thomas has a run in four straight games now while Jacquay earned her first since the win versus Rhode Island. Three pitchers saw action for the Spartans in the double header, combining for nine strikeouts on the day. Alyssa Kelly and Maddie Drerup both threw over 100 pitches, while Olivia Hall entered game one in relief for Kelly and finished the game cleanly, not allowing a hit over the final two innings.  

The Spartans are the only team in the Big South to hold a batting average above .300 (.308). Sarah Price and Mady Lanoux added a handful of stolen bases to the Spartans league leading total of 103. The Spartans also lead the conference in ERA and are the only team below 2.00, by a healthy margin too (1.70).  

As far as national rankings go, the Spartans are maintaining their fifth-place ranking when it comes to stolen bases per game (2.78). Their ERA has fallen some, but the mark of 1.68 still stands as ninth in the country. In addition, the Spartans are tied for 26th in W/L percentage (.750), 27th in batting average (.312), 36th in slugging percentage (.488), and tied for 44th in triples per game (.28). 

Winthrop:  

The Eagles are coming to Spartanburg after a road series loss to Gardner-Webb, with game three being a 10-2 run-rule loss in the sixth. Winthrop hit relatively well in that series, collecting 15 hits over the three games, but were outpaced by Gardner-Webb's 28. Senior Macy McCall is on a four-game hit streak, with three hits in two of those games.  The Eagles are 7-4 when McCall has more than one hit and 3-0 when she has three. Peyton Rivas was the only other Eagle to have more than one hit in a game during their series with Gardner-Webb, collecting two in game three. Sydney Boulware earned the sole victory for Winthrop on the weekend, pitching eight innings in a shutout win for game two, but giving up five runs in the first of game three.  

Big South Standings: 

Campbell (8-1, 26-9) 

Longwood (4-1, 17-13) 

Gardner-Webb (3-2, 14-23) 

Winthrop (5-4, 23-14) 

USC Upstate (4-5, 28-10) 

Charleston Southern (3-5, 13-18) 

Radford (1-5, 10-20) 

Presbyterian (0-5, 19-13) 

Up Next for The Spartans 

The Spartans will go back on the road for the rest of April, starting with a trip to NC State for a mid-week slate with the Wolfpack at 5:00 p.m. After that, Upstate heads to Radford for a weekend series with one game on Friday and a double-header set for Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. 

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

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