March 17, 2008

Final Stats

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Two walk-off wins and a historic win by senior Scott Eckard (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary) highlighted Monday afternoon for the USC Upstate baseball team, as Upstate posted its first Atlantic Sun Conference series sweep in school history, defeating Campbell, 5-4, in the completion of a suspended game and finished with a 6-5 win in the second game at Harley Park. The Spartans defeated Campbell, 13-2, on Friday in the first game of the series.

In the conclusion of a game from Saturday, sophomore Jimmy Tanner (Fayetteville, Ga./Stars Mill) singled in freshman Blake Green (Rock Hill, S.C./Northwestern) with the winning run in a 5-4 game in the bottom of the ninth inning to start off the festivities on Monday afternoon.

Eckard earned the win, a school-record 20th in his career, for his two-thirds of an inning of work. Eckard broke the record of Eric Hunter (1986-89), who went 19-6 during his career to set a mark that stood for 19 years. Ironically, Eckard earned the win in the shortest outing of his career.

"He's deserving of the record," Upstate head coach Matt Fincher said. "He's clearly one of the better pitchers we've had during my time here. He's a good representative of our institution and I am pleased to see that he has the all-time record."

In the second game, senior Kyle Bowley (Apopka, Fla./Apopka) barreled home with two outs in the 10th inning to score on a passed ball and lift the Spartans to the sweep.

The first game was a continuation of a 4-4 game from Saturday when heavy rain in the Spartanburg area caused the game to be suspended in the top of the ninth inning with one out in the top of the ninth inning and a Camel runner on second base.

When the game was continued on Monday, Eckard took the mound and pitched the Spartans out of the jam by getting a fly out to short and a strikeout.

"I haven't found myself in that situation too often," Eckard said. "It was fun, though. Coming in with guys on base, it seemed like it was the first inning, but it was a lot bigger situation. I don't think I've ever finished a game and then started the next game."

In the bottom of the inning, the Spartans rallied as Green singled to left field to lead off. After a sac bunt, a walk and a flyout helped Green move to third, Tanner hit a hard grounder past a diving second baseman for the game-winner.

"It was a tough decision (to throw Eckard in relief)," Fincher said, "but when I sat down to think about it, I thought, `I want to go for it.' He's our best and he's our best opportunity ot come out of that situation with no runs scoring. It could have easily backfired and they could have caught momentum and rolled in the second game, but it worked out. He did a great job. He got us out of the inning and he did well enough to keep us in the second game. We're real proud of him and what he accomplished (Monday). That's a pretty big day for him."

Ryan Hamme (0-2) took the loss for Campbell allowing two hits, a walk and a run in 2/3 innings.

With Eckard coming back to start the second game of the doubleheader, the Camels scored first in the second game, using a hit batter, a wild pitch and an RBI single from Ryan Hamme to score the run.

Upstate tied the game in the bottom of the fourth when Bowley hit a towering homer over the left field fence on a full-count fastball for the 15th in his career.

Campbell answered back by scoring two in the fifth, the only other damage it could muster off Eckard, combining three singles to do the damage.

Upstate closed the gap to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, as junior Phillip Morgan (Campobello, S.C./Spartanburg Methodist College) delivered a hard-hit single to left field that got past the outfielder and allowed him to take third, where he scored on a groundout.

The Spartans then added three runs in the seventh to take a 5-3 lead, as Green led off with a walk and junior Eric Guillen (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks) followed with a single through the right side. After a sac bunt, a fielding error scored Green. Senior Andrew Runion (Simpsonville, S.C./Mauldin) followed with a single to left field to score Guillen and Morgan followed with a single up the middle to score senior Casey Rivers (Hudson, Mass./Hudson), who reached on the error.

The Camels responded by scoring two runs in the top of the eighth, as a walk and a single put men on first and second with no outs. After a sac bunt, a fielding error helped both runs score and a walk put runners at first and second. However, a pitching change brought freshman A.J. Clark (Colorado Springs, Colo./Colorado Springs Christian) to the hill and he chased the rally away thanks to a fielder's choice groundball to the shortstop. After the throw in the dirt got away from Runion at first base, the Campbell runner tried to score from second base and was easily gunned down on a heads up play by Runion.

From there, Clark (1-0) shut down the Camels, tossing 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just a hit to earn his first collegiate run.

The Spartans, meanwhile, closed the game out in the sixth with Clark starting the rally himself with a single up the middle. After a strikeout, Bowley hit a high fly ball to short right field that couldn't be corralled and a throw in to second base headed into left field to put the runners on second and third. After an intentional walk, a groundball helped the Camels cut Clark down at the plate for the second out. Then with a 1-2 count, an offspeed pitch in the dirt squirted away from the catcher and gave Bowley enough room to score.

Bryan Braswell (0-1) took the loss for the Camels, allowing a run, a hit and two walks in 2 1/3 innings of relief.

Eckard posted his second straight quality start in the game, going six innings and allowing six hits and three runs. He walked one and struck out five. His Campbell counterpart, Brandon Scott, pitched well as well, going 6 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and four runs. He walked two and struck out three.

Morgan led Upstate with a 3-for-5 game, scoring once and driving in one run. Guillen added a 2-for-5 day, also scoring once and Bowley led the team with two runs in the game. Ellis Lowe and Graham Fronk led Campbell with two hits a piece.

The Spartans are back in action on Tuesday at Harley Park when the Big South's UNC Asheville heads in for a 6 p.m. start.