SPARTANBURG, S.C.-- The University of Detroit Mercy softball team took the lid off the 2012 schedule with three games at South Carolina-Upstate Friday and Saturday.  The final game of the series was called due to cold and windy conditions.

Titan freshman Vanessa Garcia --who was named to the All-Tournament Team-- notched five hits on the weekend, drove in a run and scored another to hit .556 in the first three starts of her collegiate career.  Sophomore Hannah Klenk had a pair of hits on the weekend as well, including the first Detroit hit of the season in the opener against USC-Upstate.

In game one, Titan starter Karyn McCarty matched USC-Upstate zero for zero through three innings.  After facing the minimum number of batters in each of the first two innings, McCarty worked her way out of a second-and-third jam with just one down in the third.  

Following a leadoff double and a one-out single, the sophomore induced a pair of groundouts to wriggle free unscathed and keep the game scoreless through three.

The Spartans broke free in the fourth, plating three in that frame with three more in the next inning before securing an 8-0 win in the opener.

In game two, a feisty Detroit squad pounced first and grabbed a quick 2-0 lead over St. Bonaventure.  The first six Titans reached base safely and RBI singles by Garcia and Renee Zaccagni staked Detroit to an early advantage. 

Detroit (0-3) hung on to that lead until the fourth inning when the Bonnies got a pair of runs to claim the lead and then put it away with three unearned in the sixth inning for the 6-3 win.

On Saturday, Ohio raced out to a 5-0 lead after three innings, but the Titans scratched back for a run in the third and had a four-run inning in the fourth. That inning featured the Titans batting around the order.

The bottom third of the order, which did a lot of the damage in the game, accounted for the first three runners.  The first run came in on an RBI single down the left field line by Dani Holmes.  After a strikeout, Alyssa Schaub walked to load the bases and Sara Cupp emptied them with a double to left center for a four-run inning.

Ohio added insurance in the sixth inning with the help of four unearned runs to post the win.  Garcia had a pair of hits Saturday and Rachel Copple added another hit for the Detroit attack.

Detroit will get back to action in two weeks when it heads to Evansville, Ind. for four games.  Detroit will play Butler in a non-conference affair along with a single game with UMKC and two against the host Purple Aces.