CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern softball, fresh off a walk-off, nine-inning thriller in game two of a Tuesday doubleheader with Furman, will look to carry that momentum with it this weekend, as it travels to league-leader USC Upstate for a three-game Big South series. Action between the Buccaneers and Spartans will begin with a 4 p.m. single game Friday before Saturday's doubleheader with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.

TOUGH MATCHUP
The Bucs take a 18-22 overall and 6-9 record into the weekend, placing sixth in the conference standings with four weekends left to play before the league tournament. The top-six schools advance to the tournament, May 11-14, in Farmville, Virginia. CSU's 6-9 mark is one game better than Gardner-Webb and Radford, who currently share seventh with the Buccaneers owning the tiebreaker over the Runnin' Bulldogs thanks to a 2-1 series win and they have yet to face the Highlanders, doing so April 29-30, on the road.

Meanwhile, the Spartans this weekend have a one-game lead in the league race over Longwood and are an astounding 26-3 at home, this spring. They have 15-straight games and have received votes this week in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll.

FRESHMEN COME THROUGH
It was a freshman combination of Lexi Markle and Weslin Jones that led Charleston Southern to its victory against the Paladins Tuesday night. Markle started the ninth-inning rally by reaching on fielding error, which plated Madison Koger for the game-tying run. Two batters later, a single up the middle by Jones, allowed Markle to come home for the clincher, setting off the celebration at home plate.

EATON GETS THE W
In the circle, Baylee Eaton tossed the final 6.1 innings of the triumph, surrendering just one run, unearned, and striking out four Paladins. The performance was her fourth win of the season and lowered her ERA to 3.63, second best on the squad. She has thrown 52.0 innings thus far this spring, the third most by a CSU player.

SCOUTING USC UPSTATE
As mentioned previously, USC Upstate is atop the Big South standings with a 39-3 overall and 13-2 conference ledger entering the weekend and is receiving votes in the national poll. The Spartans, under the direction of 29th-year head coach Chris Hawkins, have not lost since dropping the series finale against Campbell, 6-3, March 20.

SERIES HISTORY
USC Upstate has dominated the series through the years but the Bucs picked up a win in the series finale in 2019. This weekend will mark the first contests between the two schools in Spartanburg since 2012, prior to the Spartans joining the Big South.

FOLLOW ALONG
Action for all three games can be seen on ESPN+, while Saturday's doubleheader is also the Ingles Big South/Nexstar Games of the Week. The only affiliate to pick up the ESPN+ simulcast is WYCW in Greenville/Spartanburg/Anderson/Asheville. Live stats for all three games also will be conducted with links for all coverage available on CSUsports.com.