Game 1 Boxscore

Game 2 Boxscore

Spartanburg, S.C. -- Amy Szymanowski went 3-for-4 with two home runs, including a two-run, walk-off blast in the bottom of the eighth, and drove in all five runs to lead USC Upstate to a 5-3 game two victory and doubleheader sweep of the Paladins on Tuesday afternoon at Cyrill Stadium. The Spartans outlasted Furman, 10-7, in game one.

The sweep improved Upstate to 13-2 on the season, while Furman fell to 7-11.

Game 1
In the opening game of the twinbill, USC Upstate struck for six runs in the bottom of the second inning and held on to down the Paladins 10-7.

After Upstate loaded the bases on a single, walk and hit batter in the second, Hussey drove in a run with a single and Furman starter Lindsey Bert issued a bases loaded walk and hit a batter to help the Spartans to a 3-0 lead. Brittany Case cleared the bases with a three-run double into the gap to give Upstate a 6-0 lead after two innings.

Furman answered with four runs of its own in the top of the third. Bert walked and Courtney Jacobs singled to set the stage for Candace Johnson who hit a deep fly to centerfield that was dropped at the wall. Two runs scored on the play and Sieara Bishop followed with a two-run blast to left field to cut the margin to 6-4.

The Spartans added single runs in the third and fourth innings before Bert opened the fifth with a solo shot to left-center to trim the lead back to 8-5. Abbie Millete homered to open the bottom of the fifth for Upstate and Ansley Gilstrap delivered an RBI single to up the margin to 10-5.

Anna Rose Borrelli hit a towering two-run shot to left field in the top of the sixth for Furman, but Spartan starter Holly McKinnon (7-1) retired the Paladins in the seventh to pick up her first of two wins on the day. McKinnon gave up just three earned runs on four hits in seven innings.

Bert (4-7) was tagged with the loss after allowing 10 runs on seven hits over five innings.

Gilstrap and Millete each went 2-for-3 with two RBI for the Spartans, while Bishop and Borrelli drove in two runs apiece for the Paladins.

Game 2
Amy Szymanowski hammered a two-run homer to center field with one out in the bottom of the eighth to lift Upstate to a 5-3 victory in game two.

Szymanowski, who drove in all five runs for the Spartans in game two, gave her team a sixth inning lead with an RBI single.  In the top of the seventh with two outs, Candace Johnson lined a solo homer over the left-center field wall to knot the game at 3-3.

After McKinnon sat down Furman in the top of the eighth, Furman starter Emily Demonte retired the first batter she faced in the inning with the international tiebreaking runner at second base, but Szymanowski followed with the game-winning blast.

McKinnon allowed one run on two hits in three and 2/3 innings of relief to grab the win. Demonte took the loss despite allowing just two earned runs in seven and 1/3 innings of work. She scattered eight hits and did not walk a batter.

Furman took a 2-0 lead in the first on Hannah Reynolds two-run homer before Szymanowski evened the game in the bottom of the second inning with her first of two homers.

The Paladins return to action at Lipscomb's Purple and Gold Challenge in Nashville, Tenn., this weekend.



Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information