March 6, 2009

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Junior Jimmy Tanner (Fayetteville, Ga./Starr's Mill) and sophomore Keith Bisgounis (Oviedo, Fla./Oviedo) each had three of the USC Upstate baseball team's 13 hits, buta six-run ninth inning helped lift Belmont to a 12-7 win in both teams' Atlantic Sun Conference openers on Friday at Harley Park.

The Bruins (5-5 overall, 1-0 A-Sun) manufactured their six runs in the top of the ninth, getting the first five runners on base to start the rally, which was capped on a two-RBI single from Dylan Craig.

Tanner led the Spartans (3-5 overall, 0-1 A-Sun) with three runs and three hits and Bisgounis added a 3-for-5 game with a run and an RBI in just his second start of the year. Senior Phillip Morgan (Campobello, S.C./Spartanburg Methodist) and freshman Jeff Medley (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) each added two hits, with Morgan adding a run and two RBI and Medley notching a run and a RBI.

Upstate took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Tanner and Morgan hit back-to-back singles, setting up an RBI single from freshman Jeff Medley (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford). Morgan scored on a fielding error.

The Spartans took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth, as Medley and Bisgounis hit back-to-back singles before senior Tommy Shovlin (Merritt Island, Fla./Daytona Beach C.C.), who delivered an opposite field single that scored Medley. Freshman pinch hitter Adam Waters (Denver, N.C./Hopewell) followed with an RBI single through the left side, giving Upstate the lead.

Belmont responded with two more runs in the seventh, though, to retake the lead at 6-5, as Derek Hamblen homered and Craig doubled before coming around to score on a groundout.

Senior Eric Guillen (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks) started a third-inning rally with a single up the middle that nearly hit the pitcher in the foot. Tanner followed with a walk and a balk moved both runners into scoring position, where Morgan drove both them in with a lined double off the base of the right field wall.

The Bruins fought back, taking a 4-3 lead after two runs in the sixth. Belmont started the comeback with a solo homer from Mark Noth in the fifth before another solo shot from Brandon McCall tied the game at three. Another run came in on an RBI double from Vinny Casha.

Tanner got Upstate on the board in the bottom of the first inning with a two-out solo shot over the right-center field fence for his second homer of the season. Belmont tied the game in the third with a solo shot from Packy Elkins in his first at bat of the year.

Hamblen went 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs and Craig added two hits and two RBI to pace the Bruins. Daniel Wagner also added three hits.

Jon Ivie (2-0) picked up the win in relief for the Bruins, tossing 1 1/3 innings, allowing a hit and striking out three. Jimmy Stanley pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out one. Sophomore Tim Fournier (Seneca, S.C./Walhalla) (0-1) took the loss for Upstate, allowing four hits and five runs in the ninth inning.

USC Upstate and Belmont will wrap up their three-game set on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.