Coming Around Again
4/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 21, 2008
Tuesday vs. Presbyterian Free Audio | Wednesday vs. Charlotte Video Streaming | Wednesday Gametracker
Complete Midweek Notes in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Fresh off two eighth-inning rallies to down Atlantic Sun Conference foe Lipscomb, the USC Upstate baseball team will get a second-go-round with local non-conference opponents during the midweek, hitting the road for a Tuesday game at Presbyterian in Clinton, S.C. before heading the opposite direction for a Wednesday game at Charlotte.
The Spartans, at 20-21 overall, will face tough challenges in both programs. The Blue Hose, who are also in their first year of the transition to Division I, will be looking for revenge against the Spartans, who downed the Blue Hose twice earlier this year. The all-time series between the two programs stands at 12-10 in favor of Upstate.
The game against the 49ers will be the fifth and final game against a team in Baseball America's projected NCAA field of 64 in a span of eight days. The 49ers, at 29-9 overall and 11-4 in the Atlantic 10, are tied for the lead in their conference and hold a 1-0 lead in the all-time series, winning the first meeting between the two schools, 7-3, on Feb. 27.
Quick Hits
• USC Upstate has won at least 20 games in each of the last seven years under head coach Matt Fincher, a school record.
• USC Upstate has come-from-behind to win 12 of their 20 games this season, including scoring its first go-ahead runs in the sixth inning or later eight times.
• Freshman Blake Green is 11-for-26 (.423) with five runs and three RBIs in the last seven games to lead the Spartan offense. He has also walked three times and owns a seven-game hitting streak.
• After starting the season in a 9-for-42 (.214) slump, sophomore Jimmy Tanner has led the Spartans, hitting a hefty .383 (41-for-107) with 19 runs in the last 29 games.
• Seniors Kyle Bowley and Andrew Runion are both in a four-way tie for 10th in school history with 17 career home runs. Bowley has three this year in 70 at bats and Runion has eight in 164.
• Both sophomore Tyler Oliver and junior Justin Hayes are tied for fifth in the A-Sun with three saves this season.
• Senior Kyle Bowley has tied a career high for wins (5) and has far surpassed his previous career best with 58 strikeouts this season.
•The Spartans' 17 homers this year already surpasses their 2007 total of 14.
Cardiac Kids
If nothing else, the USC Upstate baseball team is making its fans pay attention for all nine innings of a game. The Spartans have come-from-behind for victories in 12 of their 20 wins in this season and in four other games, the Spartans were forced to break an eighth or ninth inning tie, although they never trailed in the game. Upstate has scored 186 of the team's 248 runs (75 percent) after the fifth inning. The team hits .377 in the fifth inning and .374 in the sixth.
Below is a list of Upstate's come-from-behind wins in 2008:
Date Opponent Opp. Lead Upst. 1st Lead Final Score 2/22 NJIT 1-0 (1st) 2-1 (5th) 8-3 3/1 at ETSU 1-0 (1st) 6-1 (6th) 11-1 3/1 at ETSU 2-1 (1st) 5-2 (4th) 8-3 3/9 at Mercer 1-0 (2nd) 2-1 (5th) 7-2 3/18 UNC Asheville 1-0 (T-6th) 4-1 (B-6th) 6-4 3/22 at UNF 2-0 (2nd) 5-2 (3rd) 12-5 3/26 Presbyterian 4-0 (1st) 7-5 (7th) 7-6 3/29 Jacksonville 3-1 (3rd) 4-3 (6th) 5-4 4/1 N.C. A&T 6-4 (6th) 16-6 (8th) 16-6 4/2 High Point 4-2 (6th) 5-4 (8th) 5-4 4/19 Lipscomb 4-1 (7th) 9-4 (8th) 9-5 4/19 Lipscomb 4-0 (2nd) 5-4 (8th) 5-4
Crazy Eights
Four of the Spartans last five wins at Harley Park have come with bottom of the eighth-inning rallies. Below is a look back at each win:
April 1 - Upstate 16, North Carolina A&T 6: An 11-run eighth inning rally helped Upstate overcome a 6-5 deficit. The first nine runners reached base in the frame.
April 2 - Upstate 5, High Point 4: Freshman Reed Lishen delivered a two-out, two-strike single through the right side to score two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for his first career game-winning hit.
April 19 - Upstate 9, Lipscomb 5: Bases-loaded triples from freshman Keith Bisgounis and sophomore Brian Dempsey led to an eight-run rally in the eighth en route to a 9-5 win.
April 19 - Upstate 5, Lipscomb 4: A two-run, two-out single by freshman Keith Bisgounis in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted Upstate to a 5-4 win.
Kyle's Korner
Senior Kyle Bowley is in the midst of a magical season on the mound for Upstate. Entering the year with a 4.67 ERA and a 12-9 record on the mound in Division II, Bowley is 5-2 with a 3.05 ERA so far in his first year of Division I play. Along the way, he has already surpassed his career high with 58 strikeouts (41 during both sophomore and junior years) and with at least three starts left, Bowley is 22 strikeouts shy of the school record of 80 strikeouts set by Michael Stone in 2000. His five wins also tie a career-high.
Sun Shining For Bowley
Senior Kyle Bowley has made his mark on the Atlantic Sun Conference this season, appearing among the conference leaders in five categories. He is fifth in ERA (3.05), tied for third in wins (5), sixth in innings pitched (59.0), tied for second in complete games (2) and second in strikeouts (58).
Bisgounis Comes Up Big
Freshman Keith Bisgounis made his case as one of the best clutch hitters in the Atlantic Sun Conference on Saturday afternoon at Harley Park with a three-run game-tying triple in the eighth inning of the first game and with a two-run game-winning single in the second game of a doubleheader against second-place Lipscomb, lifting Upstate to 9-5 and 5-4 wins. Down 4-1 with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning in the first game, Bisgounis lined a triple into left center to tie the game. Down 4-3 with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth in the second game, Bisgounis swatted a pitch down the left field line that landed just feet from the line and feet from the charging Bison outfielder.
Playing Hurt
Senior Kyle Bowley has been hampered by a sore hamstring for the last week, originally aggrevating the hamstring against Kennesaw State on April 11. In that game, he was forced to leave just two outs from qualifying for the win on the mound. He was back in the lineup on Tuesday against South Carolina, hitting a homer, but once again was forced to leave the game after two at bats. On Friday, he again started and scored a run, but was pulled after walking in the seventh inning.
That set up one of the gutsiest pitching performance of the year on Saturday, as Bowley threw 121-pitches to earn fifth win of the year in rubber game of series against Lipscomb on Saturday. After he gave up four runs in first two innings, Bowley held on to allow just two hits in the next six innings and retired the last 11 he faced. In the meantime, the Spartan offense came back to win the game, 5-4.
Tanning The Rawhide
Sophomore Jimmy Tanner has become one of Upstate's most reliable offensive producers this season, after struggling out of the gate. After going 9-for-42 in his first 11 games, the Spartan catcher has hit .383 (41-for-107) with 19 runs in 16 RBIs in the last 29 games. In the process, he has moved to the top of the lineup and has risen to second on the Spartans with a .336 average.
Keeping Thieves In Line
The Upstate catching duo of sophomore Jimmy Tanner and Phillip Morgan have caught an impressive 23 attempted stolen bases this season, cutting down 40 percent (23-for-58) of would-be base stealers. They are tied for the conference lead in the department with Campbell. In 26 starts, Tanner has cut down 11 thieves and Morgan has tossed out seven. The Spartan pitching staff has also picked off five runners in stolen base situations.
Taking No Lip
Lipscomb walked into Harley Park as the clear favorite to be the No. 1 seed at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships, entering the weekend a full three games ahead of the next tournament-eligible team in Jacksonville. The Bisons were rolling, even having taken two of three from conference leader FGCU, and had won all seven of their conference series en route to a 14-7 record. The Spartans were the first team of the season to win a series against the Bisons, coming-from-behind in the eighth inning to win two of the three games. Ironically, the Bisons still left Harley Park three games ahead of the next tournament-eligible team.
Clark Comes Through
Freshman A.J. Clark threw 7 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and one run in his first collegiate start, leading Upstate to a 5-1 win over Presbyterian on March 27, as Upstate swept a two-game midweek set from the Blue Hose. From the first two batters, which he struck out, Clark (2-0) was in complete control for the Spartans. He struck out four batters in the game and until the eighth inning when he gave up three singles with one out, no Blue Hose (7-15) runner got past second base. Clark is 2-1 this season with a 4.33 ERA in 27 innings.
