Bill English, Associate AD for Media Relations – USC Upstate (Photo Courtesy of Upstate Athletics)
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team turned in a tremendous start to the season last weekend and will look to keep it rolling when it plays host to Appalachian State, Ball State, George Mason, Presbyterian and Virginia Tech in the Buffalo Wild Wings Spartan Invitational Friday-Sunday at Cyrill Stadium. As of right now, the winter weather that is hitting the Upstate region has not caused the tournament schedule to be altered. However, any changes to the tournament schedule will be announced on upstatespartans.com.
Upstate (5-0) opened the season by sweeping all five games of the Upstate Classic last weekend at Cyrill Stadium, picking up two wins over Virginia and one win each over Eastern Michigan, Youngstown State and Towson. Upstate will open play in the Buffalo Wild Wings Spartan Invitational Friday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. against Ball State. The game will be a battle of undefeated teams as the Cardinals enter the game with a 3-0 record. Upstate will continue the tournament against George Mason (0-0) Saturday at 1:00 p.m. before a showdown with Virginia Tech (2-1) at 3:00 p.m. The Spartans will close out the tournament against Presbyterian (0-0) at 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Appalachian State in also in the tournament, but will not play Upstate this weekend.
Upstate has not played Ball State or Virginia Tech in the history of the program, but has played George Mason and Presbyterian several times. The Spartans lead the series with George Mason, 7-1, and lead Presbyterian, 11-5. In Upstate’s Division I era, the Spartans are a combined 7-1 against the Patriots and Blue Hose. Ball State (3-0), in the Mid-American Conference, won the regular season league title last year. Presbyterian (0-4) claimed a fifth-place showing in the Big South. George Mason (0-0), now in the A-10, finished sixth in the Colonial last season, while Virginia Tech (2-1) also finished sixth in the ACC.
Fans can follow the entire tournament online at upstatespartans.com. Live stats will be available for all 12 games of the tournament. Live video will also be available for the Upstate-Presbyterian game on Sunday.
