May 10, 2009

Final Stats

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Senior Phillip Morgan (Campobello, S.C./Spartanburg Methodist) extended his hitting streak to 20 games, the longest for a USC Upstate baseball player since Chris Nowak hit in 27 straight in 2002, with an RBI double in the eighth inning, but five runs in the first three innings helped buoy North Florida to a 6-2 Atlantic Sun Conference win in the rubber match of the three-game set at Harley Park on Mother's day.

Morgan, one of six seniors honored by the Spartans (14-35 overall, 4-23 A-Sun) before the final game at Harley Park this season, drove in fellow senior Eric Guillen (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks), who drew a walk to lead off the inning, with one out in the eighth, snapping the Ospreys' shutout and cutting the lead to four runs.

The Ospreys (21-28 overall, 14-13 A-Sun) got the run back in the ninth, thanks to a double from Preston Hale and a triple from Justin Preckajlo, but the Spartans rallied back in their half of the ninth. Senior Tommy Shovlin (Merritt Island, Fla./Daytona Beach C.C.) led off with a pinch-hit triple into the right-center gap and was driven in on a sac fly. A walk followed, but two strikeouts ended the game.

The Ospreys got two unearned runs to take a 2-0 lead in the second inning, using two singles and a walk to load the bases with two outs when a throwing error on a fielder's choice plated the runs. Three more runs, thanks to three straight triples from Hale, T.J. Thompson and Preckajlo, crossed in the third to give UNF a 5-0 lead, which stood until the eighth inning.

Michael Kelly (1-3) pitched brilliantly for the Ospreys in the win, as the southpaw allowed just four hits in six shutout frames. He walked two and struck out three before yielding to Ty Pryor, who earned the save by pitching the final three frames, allowing two hits, two walks and two runs. He struck out five.

Junior Matt Branham (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley) (1-5) once again pitched well, but was charged with the loss, as he went seven innings, allowing six hits and three earned runs. He walked one and struck out six, moving into a tie with Chris Hawkins (1986) for fifth on the school's single-season strikeout chart with 75. Branham is five from the record set by Michael Stone in 2000.

Preckajlo finished 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBI to lead the Ospreys and both Hale and Eldredge added two of the team's 10 hits.

Morgan, Guillen, Shovlin and fellow seniors Phillip Myers (Louisville, Ky./Seminole C.C.), Kyle Simpson (Lyman, S.C./Byrnes) and Dennis McCraney (Catawba, S.C./Rock Hill) were each honored in the pregame Senior Day ceremony.

Upstate will wrap up its season with five games on the road, traveling to South Carolina for a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Tuesday before heading to Campbell to wrap up the season with a three-game A-Sun set starting on Thursday at 4 p.m.