March 11, 2009

Final Stats

CONWAY, S.C. - The USC Upstate baseball team had its chances to upset a hot Coastal Carolina on Wednesday at Watson Stadium. The tying run got to third base in both the seventh and eighth innings, but a solid relief effort by the Chanticleers and two eighth-inning runs helped the 12th-ranked team to a 4-2 win.

Two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning extended the lead to three runs. With two outs in the inning, the Chanticleers (14-1 overall) finally got going off senior Phillip Myers (Louisville, Ky./Seminole C.C.), as a double, a walk and an RBI single finally chased him from the mound after 5 2/3 innings. Two more walks forced the second run of the frame in.

The Spartans (5-7 overall) fought back in the ninth inning, even getting the tying run to the plate, but a fly out and strikeout ended the threat. Junior Jacob Breen (Marietta, Ga./Birmingham Southern) led off the inning with a single up the middle and senior Phillip Morgan (Campobello, S.C./Spartanburg Methodist) followed with a double down the right field line, bringing up the tying run. A groundout scored Breen, but Chanticleer closer Nick McCully got the final two outs for his fourth save of the season.

Walks turned into the story of the game once again. After drawing 12 walks in an 8-3 win over N.C. A&T on Tuesday, the Spartans allowed 11 walks on Wednesday while the Chants walked none.

The Chants got on the board quickly in the first, taking advantage of loading the bases on a hit by pitch and two walks. Adam Rice did the damage with a two-RBI single up the middle.

Freshman Ryan Fern (Oviedo, Fla./Winter Springs) got into a jam in the second inning for Upstate, allowing a hit and two walks to load the bases with no outs, but he struck out the Chants' first two hitters on curveballs and got a fly ball to leave the sacks full.

Upstate got on the board in the third inning, as Morgan led off with a double down the left field line, took third on a one-out single from senior Eric Guillen (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks) and scored on a two-out opposite-field single from junior Jimmy Tanner (Fayetteville, Ga./Starr's Mill).

Myers came in to hold the Chants' powerful offense down and meanwhile the Upstate offense kept pestering the Chants, but couldn't break through, as Morgan was left on third in the seventh after a fly out and Tanner was left on third with one out in the eighth after a groundout and a strikeout.

Morgan led the Spartans with a 2-for-4 game with two doubles and a run and Guillen and Tanner each also added three of Upstate's 10 hits. The Chants were led by a 2-for-4 game from Scott Woodward.

Myers posted one of the best pitching efforts of his career, as he went 5 2/3 innings, stretching his season-opening and DI-era record scoreless innings stretch to 15 2/3 innings before the Chants' eighth-inning two-out single ended the stretch. Myers struck out two, allowed three hits, two runs and six walks.

Freshman Austin Moyer (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) (1-2) took the loss for Upstate, allowing a hit, two walks and a run in the first inning.

Austin Fleet took the win for Coastal Carolina, pitching five innings, allowing six hits and one run. He walked none and struck out two.

Upstate gets back into action on Friday when it starts a three-game set with Atlantic Sun Conference foe Lipscomb in Nashville, Tenn., at 6 p.m. The series will conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday, slated for 1 p.m. CT.