COLUMBIA, S.C. - Charleston Southern split a pair of games during the second day of the 2011 Palmetto State Showdown, Saturday, Feb. 12, falling 7-0 to USC Upstate before defeating Big South rival Winthrop 11-4. The Bucs (1-2) received three home runs during the win over Winthrop (1-1), giving the team five for the season.

CSU managed three hits against USC Upstate's Morgan Childers. Childers opened the season with a no-hitter over Coastal Carolina Friday, and followed with 14 strikeouts against the Bucs. The Bucs loaded the bases in the first and sixth innings, but were unable to score a run. Upstate (2-0) scored five in the first and added two in the sixth inning, recording seven hits.

CSU's 2-3-4 hitters, Kristin Kelleher, Jana Matthews and Erin Kegley all went 1-for-2 against the Spartans.

The Buccaneers loaded the bases in the first inning. Kelleher drew a one-out walk. Singles from Kegley and Matthews placed pinch runner Courtney Konyk on third, and CSU had three on with one out. Childers struck out Melanie Stickney and Trea Steele to defuse the Buccaneer rally.

USC Upstate pushed across five runs during the bottom of the first before CSU recorded an out. Kim Brasil led off with a triple, and scored on a Katie Zauner double. With Spartans on second and third and no one out, the Bucs intentionally walked Lauren Quevedo. Cheyenna Ohrich belted a grand slam, pushing USC Upstate's lead to 5-0. CSU's Morgan Dowdy came in to relieve Kimberly Hobbs and struck out a pair in retiring the side.

Both Childers and Dowdy found their rhythm from the second inning on, as Childers pitched no-hit softball starting in the second until the sixth inning. Dowdy held the Spartans scoreless, allowing just one hit in her four innings of work.

Hobbs/>/> re-entered the circle in the top of the fifth inning. After the first two Spartans reached base, Hobbs/>/> retired the next two hitters via groundouts. Ohlrich drove in a run by grounding out, and Upstate added a seventh run with a two-out RBI single by Ashley Butler. Hobbs/>/> fanned the final Spartan batter to end the fifth.

The Bucs threatened during the top of the sixth, loading the bases with one out. Kristin Kelleher stroked a single to left field, and Kegley was then hit by a pitch. A free pass to Matthews filled the bases. Childers then got pinch-hitter Kimberly Braxton to hit into a 1-2-3 double-play to end the inning, keeping the score at 7-0.

CSU-USC Upstate Box Score

Back-to-back home runs by Erin Kegley and Jana Matthews propelled CSU to a seven-run fifth inning in an 11-4 win over Winthrop/>/> Saturday, Feb. 12. The Buccaneers earned their first win of the season with their 11-run outburst.

Morgan Dowdy pitched a complete game victory, her first seven-inning outing, giving up four runs, two earned, on six hits.

Five Buccaneers registered two hits apiece against Winthrop/>/>. Stephanie Sbardella hit a pair of doubles, while Kegley, Matthews and Lombard hit homers. Kelleher and Adams also registered two hits.

Against Winthrop/>/>, CSU took a 3-0 lead with a three-run top of the first. Trea Steele walked with the bases loaded and one out, scoring Lombard/>. Sbardella drove in two more with her first career hit, a double to center. Winthrop/>/> brought in Chelsey Schoenfeldt to relieve starting pitcher Ashleigh Jackson, and recorded the final two outs of the inning.

Following a 1-2-3 Eagle first, CSU had three more players reach base. Lombard/> was caught stealing after reaching on an error. Kelleher and Matthews each earned a hit, but were both stranded on base.

Dowdy set down Winthrop/>/> in order in bottom of the second, and CSU took a 3-0 lead into the third inning. The Buccaneers got some offense going in the third, but Schoenfeldt kept CSU off the board.

The Eagles broke through in the bottom of the third, tying the game with three hits. Megan Chapman registered an RBI single, and scored on a throwing error. Taylor Wright knotted the game at 3-3 with a single, driving in Teja Durante.

Sbardella stroked her second double of the game in the fifth inning. Stickney drove her in with a triple. After Stickney scored on a fielder's choice, CSU loaded the bases for Kegley. Kegley blasted a grand slam, driving in Adams, Lombard and Kelleher. Matthews hit a homer right after Kegley's home run, extending the lead to 10-3, capping a seven-run inning.

Winthrop/>/> scored a run in the bottom of the sixth, which was quickly answered by a Megan Lombard homer in the seventh for an 11-4 Buc advantage.

CSU-Winthrop Box Score

CSU will conclude play at the Palmetto State Showdown with a 10:30 a.m. contest against Furman Sunday, Feb. 13 at Beckham Field.

Postgame video