Baseball

Upstate Set For Showdown With Tigers

March 18, 2009

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SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Brimming with confidence after beating defending Atlantic 10 champions Charlotte on Tuesday at Hayes Stadium, the USC Upstate baseball team will look for another big midweek upset against No. 19 Clemson. The Spartans, who used three pitchers to hold a Charlotte team that entered the game with a .330 batting average to just nine hits, will once again use multiple pitchers on Wednesday night, starting with freshman Austin Moyer, who picked up an eight-inning win over Belmont earlier this season.

The game will have many interesting storylines to it, beginning with it being Upstate's first trip to play the Tigers in school history. It is also a return to his alma mater for Upstate recruiting coordinator Russell Triplett, who left Clemson after a year as a volunteer assistant in 2006 to become Upstate's lead assistant coach.

Quick Hits
• Upstate's win over Charlotte on Thursday was the Spartans' first against a team receiving votes in a national poll in the Division I era. The 49ers had five votes in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
• Junior Barrett Stover is tied for second in the A-Sun with three saves after picking up the save at Charlotte. • Junior Jimmy Tanner is second in the A-Sun in batting average, hitting .443. He has 31 hits in 70 at bats and leads the Spartans with 17 RBIs. Tanner is currently on a 13-game hitting streak, which is tied with Andrew Runion's streak in 2008 for the DI era school record.
• Senior Phillip Morgan has paced the Spartan offense the last six games, hitting .364 (8-for-22) with three doubles, four runs and two RBIs.
• Senior Dennis McCraney is now tied for ninth in school history with 11 career wins, thanks to picking up the win against Charlotte for his second victory in as many starts this year.
• Senior Phillip Myers is currently second in the A-Sun, posting a 1.77 ERA in 20.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 14 and walked 13 in that stretch.
• Senior Eric Guillen needs just three hits to become the 13th player in school history to reach 150 career hits.
• Clemson starter Justin Sarratt is the cousin of Upstate's softball team's starting third baseman, Keri Sarratt.

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