No. 2 USC Upstate Walks Off Against No. 3 Longwood
USC Upstate freshman second base Tiffany Domingue (York, S.C.) roped an RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Marisa Soterakis (Miramar, Fla.) from third base, as the knocked off No. 3 Longwood 5-4 in the first game of the Big South Tournament.
With the win today, the Spartans advance to the winner’s bracket game at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow and will face top seeded Campbell. USC Upstate (27-15) is now 2-0 in Big South Tournament games played on Thursday. The Spartans defeated Radford 5-0 in the first game of the Big South Tournament in 2019.
Mason Basdikis drew a leadoff walk and then moved into scoring position on a stolen base. Following an error by Madison Lanoux (Fleming Island, Fla.) the Lancers had a pair of runners on the bases. On a stolen base attempt by Destiny Martinez, USC Upstate catcher Peyton Darnell (Fort Mill, S.C.) threw the ball into the outfield and allowed Basdikis to score. One batter later Alexis Wayland hit a two run homerun to put the Lancers up 3-0.
With one out in the inning, Grigsby walked and then stole second to move into scoring position. Grigsby moved to third on a wild pitch and came around to score on a fielding error by Longwood. Darnell reached on a fielding as Domingue moved all the way to third on the play. Olivia Marshall (Mooresville, N.C.) came into the game to run for Darnell. Marshall stole second to move into scoring positon.
Bre Cooper (Massillon, Ohio) hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Domingue from third and advanced Marshall in the process. An RBI single from Lanoux scored Marshall from third base and the game was tied at three.
Neither side threatened again until the bottom of the fifth inning, Grigsby was hit by a pitch to keep the inning alive. Domingue came through with an RBI triple down the right field line to give the Spartans the go ahead run.
In the top of the sixth inning, Leah Powell tied the game with a two out homerun to centerfield. Then in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Spartans began to come alive. Soterakis began the inning, by getting drilled in the hip by a pitch. Alexa Sanchez (Miami, Fla.) laid down a sacrifice bunt with two strikes to move Soterakis into scoring position. Following back-to-back walks by Price and Grigsby, the bases were loaded for Domingue. The freshman infielder stepped to the plate and crushed a single through the left side of the infield to score the winning run for the Spartans.