March 15, 2011

Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team continues to battle for a spot in the various Top 25 polls and for the second straight week, has secured points in all three major polls released on Tuesday.

Despite taking its first two losses of the season last week, both losses at the hands of No. 4 Washington, Upstate continued to receive support in the UltimateCollegeSoftball.com, NFCA/USA Today and ESPN.com/USA Softball polls.

Upstate again received the most points in the UltimateCollegeSoftball.com poll, receiving 27 points. If the poll was expanded, the Spartans would be ranked No. 28^th behind Texas A&M and Georgia Tech and in front of Kansas, Fresno State, LSU and Syracuse. The ESPN.com/USA Softball poll gave Upstate two points and the Spartans would be ranked tied for No. 32 if the poll was expanded. Finally, Upstate received one point in the NFCA/USA Today poll and would be ranked tied for 33^rd if that poll was expanded.

Upstate went 4-2 last week, sweeping a non-conference doubleheader from North Carolina A&T at home before traveling to Seattle, Wash., to play in the Husky Classic at Washington. The Spartans opened the tournament with a 2-1 victory over Oregon State, delivering the first-ever win over a Pac-10 team in the history of the athletic department. Upstate dropped a 10-2 decision at then-No. 5 Washington in the second game on Friday. An uncharacteristically shaky third inning by the Spartans turned a 2-1 lead into an 8-2 deficit. Upstate came back the next day and claimed a 2-1 victory over Portland State before battling Washington again. The second game against the Huskies saw the Spartans open a 5-0 lead, fall behind by a 10-5 score, and battle back to get within three for the final 10-7 margin.

Georgia secured the top spot in all three polls for the first time this week. The Bulldogs were previously ranked 1-2-3 in the polls last week. Upstate will travel to Athens, Ga., next Wednesday to take on the Bulldogs in a single game starting at 6:30 p.m.