Monday, February 14, 2011

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Katie Zauner belted a two-run home run and accounted for all three of USC Upstate's runs as the Spartans claimed a 3-2 victory over South Carolina to win the Palmetto State Showdown Sunday evening at Beckham Field.

In addition to Zauner's (Canby, Ore.) standout performance, Spartan pitcher Morgan Childers (Kings Mountain, N.C.) earned the win against South Carolina to improve to 3-0 on the year. She struck out 12 to top 1,000 career strikeouts. She now has 1,003 in her brilliant four-year career. The victory over the Gamecocks came immediately after freshman Hannah Alexander (Lexington, N.C.) earned her first career victory in a 9-1 rout of Winthrop.

Upstate finished the tournament 4-0 to claim the championship. The Spartans will be back in action Wednesday afternoon against Gardner-Webb at 2:30 p.m. in Upstate's home opener at Cyrill Stadium.

"I am really proud of the way we put the effort and intensity into each game," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "It was a true testament of the hard work we have put into the game of softball since Jan. 12. I want to commend South Carolina's program and what Beverly Smith has done there. They have a lot of energy and are a whole lot better than they were last year."