JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Spartan baseball team claimed a 7-6 victory in game one on Saturday, but Jacksonville won the second game 12-4 to claim a 2-1 series victory.
USC Upstate now sits 6-10 on the season and 1-3 in the A-Sun, while Jacksonville owns a 11-5 mark and 2-1 in league play.
Upstate 7, Jacksonville 6 (DH Game 1)
In the top of the ninth inning, with the game tied at 5-5, Upstate was able to plate two runs to take a 7-5 advantage. Trey Richardson (Lakeland, Fla.) led off the inning with a single through the right side. Richardson advanced to second on a wild pitch and came into score on Luke Weber's (Spartanburg, S.C.) double to left field. Tyler Miller (Fort Mill, S.C.), who was 0-for-8 in the series, connected on his first hit against the Dolphins and his single to center allowed Weber to score what proved to be the winning run.
The Dolphins made things very interesting in the bottom of the ninth inning. Taylor Ratliff singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by Richardson. Jonathon Murphy also singled and advanced to second on an error, this time by Austin Liput (Oviedo, Fla.) and Ratliff scored to cut the Spartan lead to just one, 7-6.
Dan Gulbransen was intentionally walked, but a wild pitch by Spartan reliever Ryan Fern (Oviedo, Fla.) allowed Murphy to advance to third. Jimmy Appleby stepped into the batter's box as a pinch hitter, but Appleby grounded into a 4-6-3 double play allowing Upstate to claim the 7-6 victory.
Upstate's Fern (2-1) picked up the victory after pitching the final two innings of the contest. Fern gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits in his outing on Saturday. Jacksonville reliever Chris Anderson was credited with the loss and now sits 1-1 on the campaign after allowing two earned runs on four hits in two innings of work.
The Spartans were led at the plate by Richardson and Weber in game one. Richardson finished 3-for-5 with three runs and one RBI, while Weber finished with three hits, three RBI and one run. Tyler Cook (Bloomington, Ill.) also pitched in with a pair of hits.
After Jacksonville took a three run lead after four innings, the Spartans posted three runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game. The inning was capped by Weber's two-out two-RBI double to left.
Upstate took the lead, 4-3, in the sixth when Dillon Way (Orangeburg, S.C.) scored on Grason Wiggins' (Statesboro, Ga.) RBI ground out.
After Dolphin reliever Sean Green replaced starter Chris Kaminski to start the seventh, Richardson sent the second pitch he saw over the left field wall to give Upstate a 5-3 advantage.
Jacksonville was able to tie the game at 5-5 with a single run in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings.
Both starters went six full innings and the six innings pitched by Gaither Bumgardner (Fort Lawn, S.C.) were a career-high. Bumgardner struck out four while scattering five hits and allowing three runs.
Jacksonville 12, Upstate 4 (DH Game 2)
After falling behind 1-0 after the first inning, the Spartans posted three runs in the second inning to take a two run advantage. Liput started the inning with a double to left center and came around to score on Miller's RBI double to the left center field gap. Miller and Way also scored in the inning.
Upstate, leading 3-2, pushed the lead to 4-2 in the fifth when Wiggins scored on Cook's RBI single to second base.
In the sixth inning, Jacksonville took the lead as they posted four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Dolphins would never relinquish the 6-4 advantage that they owned and would actually increase the lead later in the game.
Jacksonville added six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, setting the final tally at 12-4.
Dolphin starter Matthew Tomshaw earned his first win of the season after pitching eight innings allowing four runs (one earned) on 10 hits to go with five strikeouts. Upstate starter David Roseboom (Pattersonville, N.Y.) fell to 0-3 in 2011 after allowing six runs (all earned) on eight hits with one strikeout in 5.2 innings of work.
Upstate was led in the finale by the top of the batting order. Green, Bumgardner and Cook combined for eight of the Spartans 10 hits and Bumgardner and Cook each tallied an RBI.
Richardson was 0-for-4 at the plate and his 15-game hitting streak to open the season came to an end on Saturday.
The Spartans will return to action on Wednesday when they host Charleston Southern at Harley Park (4:00 p.m. first pitch).
