Back In Action
5/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - With its exam period over, the USC Upstate baseball team will now have a blast of 10 games in 12 games to wrap up its 2010 season, starting with a three-game Atlantic Sun Conference set in DeLand, Fla., where the Spartans will look to try and upset one of the most traditionally-strong programs in the nation in Stetson. Since moving to Division I, Upstate has comeback from the exam period at its strongest, posting a 12-8 (.600) record in the last two years, including two wins over Florida Gulf Coast in 2008 and wins over The Citadel, Wofford and a three-game sweep of Campbell in 2009. With freshman Scott DeCecco and junior Philip Brannon coming off strong starts at Mercer, the Spartans may be poised for another strong run.
Quick Hits
• Senior Tyler Oliver set the school record for career
appearances with his 78th on Friday, April 23 against Mercer, as he
pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings ... Now with 79 career appearances,
Oliver passed former teammate Dennis McCraney (2006-09), who
appeared in 77 career games.
• Senior Jimmy Tanner is on a 10-game hitting streak, just one game shy of the season high for Upstate set by freshman Brody Greer ... Tanner is hitting .463 (19-for-41) with nine runs, 11 RBI, five doubles and three homers during the stretch.
• Senior Jimmy Tanner has started 132 consecutive games for the Spartans since not finding his name in the lineup for the second game of a doubleheader at UNF on March 22, 2008 ... Tanner's streak is the longest since Chris Nowak started all 161 games in his three-year career from 2002-04 ... The streak is also the 25th-longest in the nation.
• Senior Jimmy Tanner is currently ninth in the A-Sun with a .389 batting average, tops amongst catchers in the league ... He is also seventh with a .479 on-base percentage.
• In his last 17 2/3 innings, despite a 1-1 record, junior Philip Brannon has compiled an impressive 2.60 ERA and quality starts against hot-hitting Campbell and Mercer ... He has struck out seven and walked four during the stretch.
• Freshman Scott DeCecco struck out a career-high eight against Mercer in his first win on April 24.
• The Spartans lead the A-Sun with 17 triples this year ... Freshman Gaither Bumgardner and freshman Brody Greer are both tied for third with four three-baggers.
• The Spartans have come-from-behind for wins in eight of their 14 victories, falling behind at some point in the game before coming back to win ... The team also has three walk-off wins.
OT For TO
Senior Tyler Oliver broke the school's record for appearances on
April 23 when he stepped to the mound for the 78th time in his
career, breaking the mark set by Dennis McCraney from 2004-07. In
the appearance, Oliver threw 1 1/3 innings, striking out one and
not allowing more than a hit. The Spartans' closer is tied for
sixth in the A-Sun with four saves and tied for sixth in school
history with seven career saves.
Rebounding
As if losing two seasons to shoulder injuries and then rebound to
throw nearly 60 innings already this year, junior Philip Brannon
has taken his comeback one step further late this season after the
worst start of his career, allowing 12 runs at North Florida on
April 10. Since throwing five outs of scoreless relief in an 11-10
win over the College of Charleston on April 13, Brannon has
regained the form that made him finish his freshman year at
Spartanburg Methodist College with a 6-0 record. He tossed seven
innings each against Campbell and Mercer, allowing two runs in each
outing against the high-powered offenses and he even picked up his
first career save by tossing the last two outs in the first game of
the doubleheader against Mercer on April 24, striking out Jacob
Tanis, the nation's leading home run hitter, to end the game. In
all, Brannon has a 1-1 record with one save in his last 17 1/3
innings, allowing just five runs for a 2.60 ERA. He has struck out
seven and allowed four walks in that time.
Scotty D Dominates
Freshman Scott DeCecco tossed 8 1/3 innings, allowing just nine
hits and two runs to earn his first career win, leading the
Spartans to a 5-2 win over Mercer on April 24. DeCecco was in
dominant form on the rainy Saturday, fighting off the wet weather
to post a career-high eight strikeouts against the Bears. He
allowed nine hits, but stranded seven Bears on the basepaths,
allowing just two runs and inducing five flyouts and 11 groundouts.
He even got stronger as the game wore on, retiring eight in a row
from the sixth to the first out of the ninth, striking out five in
that time.
Players Mentioned
