Game Notes
USC Upstate Fall Round Robin
September 29-30, 2007 

Pioneers Play Tight With DI and DII Schools At Upstate Fall Round Robin

The SMC Lady Pioneer softball team competed in their third tournament of the fall season and again held their own against area NCAA Division I and Division II schools in the Sept. 29 and 30^th USC Upstate Fall Round Robin.

 The weekend was capped with a 2-2 tie with Division II college Belmont Abbey.  Freshman pitcher Brittany Scoggins,  of Boiling Springs, SC,  served up a solid game which held  Belmont Abbey to 2 hits and recorded  5 strikeouts.

Whitney Wiles, a sophomore outfielder from  Starr, SC,  led off the game with a single, coming around to score and giving SMC a 1-0 lead.  Trailing 2-1 in the last inning,  Freshman outfielder Alyssa Starkey, of Inman, SC, drew a one out walk and then advanced to third on a single by sophomore outfielder Bree Shirley, of Iva, SC.

Sophomore outfielder Jessica Ledbetter, of Gaffney, SC, drew a walk to load the bases and then Starkey scored the tying run on a hard grounder to the right side by freshman shortstop Laura Trout, of Summerville.

Earlier in the day, SMC took a 2-2 tie into the last inning with USC-Upstate before falling 6-2.

 Again, Wiles started the scoring with a leadoff single and then scored on consecutive singles by freshman Shantee Rivers, of Irmo, SC, and Trout.

Heather Robinson, a freshman pitcher from Cambridge, Ontario, followed with a double down the left field line with a close play at the plate nabbing Rivers.

Freshman infielder Alex Windham, of Fort Mill, SC,  led off the fourth inning with a single to right center and later scored on a double by Brooke Lewis for the second run. The Pioneers threatened again in the last inning with two drives to the warning track by Jayme Sky, a Freshman infielder from Oshweken, Ontario, and Trout that were hauled in on great catches.

Sophomore pitcher Chelsi Edwards, of Inman, pitched well in the early innings and got some great relief help from freshman Jen Lamonica of Ontario, Canada and Landrum native Holly Hyder, a freshman.

Saturday’s games pitted SMC against perennial Peach Belt power Francis Marion and last season’s No. 5 ranked JUCO team Georgia Perimeter.  Both contests were  tight right up to the end with Georgia Perimeter pulling out a 5-4 win in the last inning and Francis Marion scoring three times in the last two innings to edge the Pioneers.

Offensively, sophomore outfielder Katie Williams of Lancaster, SC went five for six at the plate on the weekend.  Additionally, Williams’ timely hitting drove in five runs for the Pioneers.

Trout had another fine weekend both offensively and defensively going four for nine and driving in three runs. Wiles had a very productive weekend with her on base percentage and scoring four times.