SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It has been more than four years since a Spartan pitcher tossed a complete game shutout, but on Saturday afternoon, USC Upstate starter Gaither Bumgardner (Fort Lawn, S.C.) hurled a gem as he went the distance, shutting out North Florida, 2-0, at Harley Park.  In the rubber match of the series, UNF claimed a 12-11 victory to take a 2-1 series win.

Upstate 2, North Florida 0 (DH Game 1)

Bumgardner became the first pitcher in the Division I era to toss a complete game shutout and he is the first since Matt Branham pitched a complete game against Augusta State on Mar. 17, 2007 (W, 8-0, 7 innings).  Saturday's 2-0 win was also the first shutout win by the Spartans since a 10-0 win over Butler on Feb. 28, 2010.

Saturday's win was the first of Bumgardner's career and his nine innings pitched and nine strikeouts were both career highs for the sophomore.

In the bottom of the first inning, Blake Green (Rock Hill, S.C.) singled to short and was able to advance to second on Tyler Cook's (Bloomington, Ill.) sacrifice bunt.  Upstate got all the offense it needed when Green scored on Trey Richardson's RBI single through the right side.

In the top of the third the Spartans kept the Ospreys at bay as Bumgardner was able to strikeout Michael Wesner with the bases loaded to end the UNF threat.

Over the final six innings, the Ospreys managed just four hits and stranded five runners.

Upstate was able to tack on another run in the home half of the eighth when Grason Wiggins (Statesboro, Ga.) scored a wild pitch to set the final margin at 2-0.

The Spartans were led by Green's 3-for-3 performance at the plate including what proved to be the game-winning run.  Anthony Vacca (Fonthill, Ontario) also had a solid day at the plate as the freshman finished 2-for-3.

Saturday marked the end of UNF's streak of scoring at least one run.  The streak was halted at 111 games and dated back to Mar. 18, 2009 when the Ospreys fell on the road at Florida International by a score of 3-0.

Osprey starter Kyle Westwood was the losing pitcher despite allowing just two runs on eight hits while striking out six in 7.2 innings of work.

                                          North Florida 12, Upstate 11 (DH Game 2)

After a contest that took less than two hours and saw just two runs scored, a total of nine runs were scored in the first inning and 23 overall in Saturday's series finale. 

Three of the Ospreys' five runs in the first were unearned and North Florida owned a 5-0 advantage after the top of the first.

Upstate answered right back with a four-run inning, cutting the UNF lead to just one at 5-4.  Green, Bumgardner, Trey Richardson (Lakeland, Fla.) and Austin Liput (Oviedo, Fla.) all came around to score in the bottom of the first.

Thanks to five runs between the third and fourth innings, the Ospreys owned a 10-5 lead after the fourth inning.

Upstate began to chip away at the UNF lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Green started off the sixth with a single to left and scored on Bumgardner's double down the left field line.  Bumgardner was able to come around to score as Richardson doubled to left field.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Spartans again scored two runs, this time cutting the UNF lead to one, 10-9.  Tyler Miller (Fort Mill, S.C.) scored when Vacca tripled to the right center field gap.  Vacca scored on the next play when Wiggins grounded out to second base.

In the top of the ninth, UNF pushed the lead to three when Sam Perry homered to left field, giving the Ospreys a 12-9 lead.

The Spartans rally in the bottom of the ninth came up just short as they scored just two runs, falling 12-11.  Miller and Wiggins both drew walks and a double by Green gave the Spartans a pair of runners in scoring position with just one away and trailing by two runs.  Wiggins advanced 90 feet and crossed home plate on Bumgardner's ground out to first.  Green was unable to score and tie the game as Cook struck out to end the game.

The Spartans were led in the finale by the trio of Bumgardner, Green and Richardson.  Bumgardner finished 4-for-6 with two RBI and two runs, while Green and Richardson combined for five hits, three RBI and three runs.

UNF reliever Chris Medlen earned his second win of the season and Chandler Jagodzinksi picked up his first save while Upstate starter David Roseboom (Pattersonville, N.Y.) fell to 0-4 on the season.

Upstate will return to action on Tuesday when they host Furman at Harley Park with first pitch slated for 6:00 p.m.