Sunday, February 22, 2009

Spartanburg, S.C. - Crislyn Chewning had another strong day at the plate and Lauren Quevedo smacked a solo home run to highlight the offensive production for USC Upstate. And, Morgan Childers earned tournament MVP honors after tossing her second-straight shutout with 11 strikeouts as Upstate claimed a 5-0 victory over College of Charleston in the Campus Suites Spartan Classic softball tournament at Cyrill Stadium. The win was big as the championship game, which would have pitted Upstate against Presbyterian, was canceled due to the extreme cold and windy conditions and Upstate was declared the tournament champions.

Upstate improved to 5-0 on the year as Childers also improved to 5-0. The Spartans finished the tournament with a 3-0 record as the only undefeated team in the event. Presbyterian took home second place, while UMBC pounded out 17 runs on 13 hits to claim third place over College of Charleston with a 17-1 win.

Upstate jumped on College of Charleston early in the game, plating three runs in the bottom of the first inning. After Heidi Gibbs reached on a single, Amber Patterson grounded to third. However, the Charleston third baseman's throw went wide of the mark and Gibbs scored all the way from first and Patterson wound up on third. Chewning grounded out to second to score Patterson and Quevedo delivered a shot over the left field wall to give the Spartans a 3-0 lead.

Upstate made it 4-0 in the second after Patterson singled to drive in pinch runner Melissa Lockey. The Spartans ended the scoring in the fifth on Chewning's solo home run, her second of the tournament.

The 5-0 lead was more than enough for Childers. She allowed just two base runners to advance past first in the entire game and walked just one Cougar on the day. She gave up just two hits for the complete-game win. She won all three games in the tournament, combining for a 0.67 ERA with 38 strikeouts, two shutouts and a no-hitter.

"I was really proud of the way we handled the adversity on dealing with our injuries," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "We inserted people into the lineup and they delivered. I am proud of the TEAM for that. Morgan showed how dominant she can be in this tournament. To get shutouts against teams that can hit is impressive. I wish Sunday's weather was better and we didn't have the rash of injuries that we did. But, all in all, it was a good tournament all around and I am happy that we came away with the championship. I thought we did some very good things this weekend."

Joining Childers on the all-tournament team from Upstate were Crislyn Chewning, Courtney Feldon and Amber Patterson. Also named to the all-tournament team were Presbyterian's Laura Hensley, Lindsey Trombley and Erin Stewart, UMBC's Amanda Fefel and Malorie Weller, and Charleston's Kristie Shifflett.