April 24, 2009
Gametracker (Friday) | Gametracker (Saturday - Game One) | Gametracker (Saturday - Game Two)
Complete Weekly Release in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate baseball team will hit the road after a six-game homestand, heading to Florida Gulf Coast University for a three-game Atlantic Sun Conference set, as the baseball team makes the trek to the furthest point South in school history. The Spartans will look to play the spoiler, as FGCU enters the weekend one-half game behind Kennesaw State for first in the A-Sun.
Upstate will look to a burgeoning heart of the order to provide some pop against the second-place Eagles, with junior Jimmy Tanner and senior Phillip Morgan leading the way. Tanner is hitting .380 during a current 12-game hitting streak and Morgan is hitting .489 with 14 RBI during an 11-game streak. Junior Ryan Wilkins is also hitting well, knocking the ball at a .474 rate in the last five games.
Quick Hits
• Junior Matt Branham needs just three strikeouts to move past Trevor Berryhill (2002-05) into fourth in school history. Branham has struck out 156 batters in three seasons. He also needs just 3 1/3 innings to move into the top five in school history in that category.
• Junior Matt Branham has been electric on the road, posting a 2.88 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 25 innings.
• Senior Phillip Morgan is the hottest Spartan over the last 11 games, going 23-for-47 (.489) with 14 RBI, six doubles and seven runs.
• Senior Phillip Morgan, who transferred from Spartanburg Methodist College, is just one hit shy of becoming the 44th player in Upstate's history to reach 100 career hits.
• Junior Jimmy Tanner is on his second 10-game hitting streak of the season, having hit .380 (19-for-50) with 15 runs and eight RBI in the last 12 games. He hit in 13 straight games from Feb. 24 to March 17.
• Junior Ryan Wilkins has hit .474 (9-for-19) in the last five games, posting career high three-hit games against N.C. A&T and ETSU. He also has six RBI and six hits in his last three games.
• Sophomore Blake Green had nine hits, five runs and three RBI, hitting .375, in his first seven games back from a concussion that kept him out of the lineup for 15 games before going hitless in two at bats against Charlotte.
• Senior Dennis McCraney is currently third in school history in career appearances with 71 and needs five in the next 13 games to tie the school record of 76 set by Chris Fowler (1989-92).
• In the past five games, freshman Jeff Medley has two doubles and a triple, giving the rookie nine extra-base hits on the year.
• Senior Kyle Simpson leads the Spartans on the road with a .380 average, posting 10 runs and 19 hits in 15 starts.
• Upstate drew the largest crowd in the baseball program's history on Tuesday night against South Carolina, drawing 1,022 fans to the 421-seat Harley Park.
