May 16, 2008

Final Stats

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Seniors Kyle Bowley (Apopka, Fla./Apopka) and Andrew Runion (Simpsonville, S.C./Mauldin) posted impressive performances as the USC Upstate baseball team won the second game of a doubleheader, 9-3, after falling in the opener, 9-0, against Florida Gulf Coast to wrap up the Spartans first season of Division I play in an Atlantic Sun Conference doubleheader at Harley Park on Friday afternoon.

Upstate, which finished 25-29 overall and 17-16 in the Atlantic Sun, finished over .500 in conference play for the first time since then-USC Spartanburg went 12-7 in the NAIA District Six in 1990. It finished tied for fifth in the conference and would have qualified for the six-team Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament field, but since it is still in the first of its four years in the provisionary process in the transition to Division I, making it ineligible for postseason play.

Bowley tossed a complete-game seven-hitter, his third complete game of the season, to lead Upstate to the 9-3 win in the second game as he allowed three runs and walked two in the game to earn his career-high sixth win. He struck out three, finishing his career with an 18-11 record, 249.2 innings pitched and 176 strikeouts. All are third-best in school annals.

Runion entered the second game of the doubleheader needing two hits to become the seventh player in school history to reach two hits and went 3-for-5 in the game with two runs scored to pass the milestone. Runion finished the season with a .375 average and 81 hits, which is fourth-best in school history. He added 10 doubles, two triples and nine homers, as he slugged a mighty .565 on the year, all of which were career highs.

Not only did Upstate beat regular-season conference champion FGCU in two of three games, it also finished the year with a 17-7 (.708) at Harley Park, marking the fifth time in as many seasons that the Spartans finished above .550 in the friendly confines. In the process, the duo won the 125th game of their four-year careers, setting a new school record for a senior class along with fellow seniors Scott Eckard (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary), Mike Colecchi (Oxford, Mass./Quinsigamond C.C.) and Casey Rivers (Hudson, Mass./Worcester State), passing the Class of 2007 which won 124 during their four years.

Thanks to six straight hits to start the sixth inning, Upstate scored five runs to take a 6-3 lead and take control of the game. Senior Andrew Runion (Simpsonville, S.C./Mauldin) led off with an infield single that was just inside the line when the third baseman tracked it down, but the throw came in late. Junior Phillip Morgan (Campobello, S.C./Spartanburg Methodist) followed with a bloop single to center field and sophomore Brian Dempsey (Montverde, Fla./East Ridge) hit a bunt single into a no-man's land between third base and the pitcher's mound to load the bases. A wild pitch brought in Runion before freshman A.J. Clark (Colorado Springs, Colo./Colorado Springs Christian) hit a double down the left field line to give Upstate a 4-3 lead. Freshman Keith Bisgounis (Oviedo, Fla./Oviedo) followed with a single to right, moving Clark to third, where he scored on a single to right by junior Tommy Shovlin (Merritt Island, Fla./Daytona Beach C.C.). After a flyout moved Bisgounis to third, junior Eric Guillen (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks) provided the fifth run and sixth hit of the inning with an RBI liner into center field.

Upstate added two more runs in the seventh inning, as Runion led off with his 200th career hit by finding a hole on the left side. After a flyout, Dempsey was hit by a pitch and Clark reached on a fielder's choice, moving Runion to third. Bisgounis followed with a single to left field and a single by Shovlin helped bring around Clark. Another run in the eighth gave Upstate a 9-3 lead, as sophomore Jimmy Tanner (Fayetteville, Ga./Stars Mill) walked to lead off. Runion followed with a single to left and an error in the outfield moved the runners to second and third. After a double play, Dempsey hit an opposite field single through the left side to bring in Tanner.

The Eagles (38-15 overall, 25-8 A-Sun) started the scoring in the second inning, using three singles, capped by an RBI single from Stephen Wickens to take a 2-0 lead. The Spartans responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning, as Morgan led off with a single, took second on a sac bunt and third on a balk before scoring on a two-out single to left Bisgounis.

FGCU took a two-run lead in the fourth, as Vinnie Scarduzio doubled to lead off and scored on an RBI single from Tim Roberson. Bowley finished the season with a 6-2 record and 3.66 ERA. The Clemens Award Watch List hurler tossed 76.1 innings, striking out 65 and walking just 16.

Pete Woodworth, winner of back-to-back A-Sun Pitcher of the Week awards entering the week, took the loss for the Eagles to fall to 7-3, allowing nine hits, two walks and six runs in five innings. He struck out five.

The Spartans pounded 16 hits with three coming from Runion, Morgan and Bisgounis. Dempsey and Shovlin each had two. Morgan and Dempsey added two runs and Clark, Bisgounis and Shovlin each had two RBIs for Upstate. Scarduzio led the Eagles, going 2-for-4 with two runs.

Locked down in a pitcher's duel until the eighth inning of the first game, FGCU scored eight runs in the final two frames to take a 9-0 decision in the first game of the doubleheader. It was the first time that USC Upstate had been shutout in 104 games, spanning back to a 4-0 loss to Presbyterian on Feb. 17, 2007.

The Eagles drew first blood in the first inning, using two leadoff walks to work a run across, but with runners on first and second with one out, the Spartans hunkered down to get a fielder's choice and a groundout to end the inning.

From there, both pitchers cruised, with FGCU's Casey Coleman and USC Upstate's senior Scott Eckard (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary) mowing down the opponents. From the bottom of the first to the top of the eighth, just six combined runners to reach second and just one to reach third base.

In the eighth, FGCU finally got to Eckard, scoring three runs off him with three singles and adding two more in the frame to take a 6-0 lead. The Eagles added three more runs in the ninth inning, using two doubles, a single and a walk.

Eckard (2-8), who holds six school records including the mark for wins (20), finished his career by tossing 7 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits, four runs and three walks. He struck out four to extend his school record to 261 and he also finishes with a school record 316 innings pitched, 13 complete games, 50 starts and four shutouts.

Coleman (7-3) pitched brilliantly for the Eagles, allowing three hits in seven shutout innings. He walked three and struck out six. The final two innings were tossed by J.J. Crumbley, who allowed just two hits and struck out one to close the game.

Junior Kyle Simpson (Lyman, S.C./Byrnes) was the lone Spartan with two hits, going 2-for-3. The Eagles got two hits and two runs from Josh Upchurch, three hits and two runs from Mikel Alvarez, and two hits and one run each from Ozzie Borrell, Vinnie Scarduzio and Stephen Russell. Russell also added three RBIs.