SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Despite USC Upstate batters one through four finishing with six hits, four RBI and four runs, the Xavier Musketeers were victorious as they claimed an 8-6 victory on Saturday afternoon at Harley Park.
With the win, the Musketeers improve to 2-1 on the young season, while the Spartans dropped their first game of the 2011 season, falling to 1-1.
The Spartans found themselves in a jam right from the outset of the contest, as the Musketeers loaded the bases in the first inning, but starting pitcher Gaither Bumgardner (Fort Lawn, S.C.) was able to overcome a couple of early Upstate miscues, which eventually loaded the bases. Bumgardner used a couple of strikeouts and got Xavier's Patrick Paligraf to ground out, helping stave off the Musketeers' early threat.
Upstate would strike first in the contest in the bottom half of the first inning, as Blake Green (Rock Hill, S.C.) reached via a Nittoli walk. Green would eventually reach third and came around to score on Trey Richardson's (Lakeland, Fla.) infield single, which gave the Spartans the early 1-0 lead
For Richardson, it was the beginning of a superlative afternoon, as he finished the day going 2-for-4, with three RBI. In addition to driving in Green, Richardson also singled in Tyler Cook (Bloomington, Ill.) in the in the bottom of the fifth and posted his final RBI of the afternoon in the bottom of half of the seventh, as he scored on a fielder's choice as Grason Wiggins (Statesboro, Ga.) hit a ball sharply to the Musketeer short stop.
The Musketeers recorded four unanswered runs between the second and third innings to take a 4-1 lead on the Spartans, but Upstate would not go quietly. The Spartans posted three runs in the bottom of the fifth, but a critical base-running error, which saw Richardson try to take third stealing, proved to be a turning point in the contest.
With Miller and Cook having already scored to tie the game 5-5 and only one out, Upstate's aggressive base running proved costly, as Musketeer catcher Ryan Bellamy gunned down Richardson's attempt to take third.
The Musketeers added two more runs in the top of the sixth inning, seemingly taking the momentum gained as a result of Richardson getting caught stealing in the previous half inning. Xavier had two men in scoring position, with Ben Thomas at third base and Seth Willoughby at second. Thomas and Willoughby came around to score on a single by designated hitter Brian Bruenning, however, after a throw missed the cut-off man, Bruenning got greedy and tried for third. He was gunned down at third by Upstate's alert catcher Luke Weber (Spartanburg, S.C.), who provided excellent support on after the errant throw. The damage was done, however, as the Musketeers took a 7-5 advantage.
Upstate would make one last charge at the Musketeers in the bottom of the seventh, with Richardson's RBI on a fielder's choice, but Xavier would answer with an insurance run in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly to right field by Willoughby, eventually yielding the final 8-6 margin.
Bumgardner went three innings and gave up four earned runs in his first start of the season, while Chris Knauff pitched four innings and surrendered three earned runs, as he was charged with his first loss of the season for the Spartans.
Upstate will be in action again tomorrow for the third consecutive day of this opening weekend to the 2011 campaign. The Spartans will do battle with the Iona Gaels out of the MAAC. First pitch at Harley Park is slated for 1 p.m.
