CHARLESTON, S.C. – USC Upstate scored a total of eight runs in the final two innings as they rallied past Charleston Southern on Wednesday afternoon to claim a 13-10 victory at the CSU Ballpark.

Upstate (5-8) took a 1-0 advantage in the top of the second inning when Grason Wiggins (Statesboro, Ga.) delivered a two-out RBI single to left center allowing Austin Liput (Oviedo, Fla.) to score the first run of the game.

CSU (7-5) answered in the bottom of the second when Jaren Sustar hit a grand slam over the left field wall, giving the Bucs the 4-1 lead.

The Bucs plated two runs in the bottom of the third to take a 6-1 advantage.

Upstate scored a single run in the top of the fourth inning to cut the deficit to four, 6-2.  Trey Richardson (Lakeland, Fla.) scored on Luke Weber's (Spartanburg, S.C.) single to the left center field gap.

The Spartans again cut into the CSU lead as they posted two runs in the top of the fifth inning.  With Christian Faust (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Blake Green (Rock Hill, S.C.) in scoring position, Richardson singled through the right side, allowing Upstate to cut the CSU lead to 6-4.

CSU tallied a single run in the fifth and seventh innings, while Upstate scored a run in the sixth, setting the score at 8-5 in favor of the Bucs with two innings to play.

The Spartans made the game interesting with a three run eighth inning as they tied the game at 8-8.  Tyler Miller (Fort Mill, S.C.) started the inning with a triple and Weber followed with a homer over the left field wall.  Wiggins scored the tying run on Green's single to center.

CSU regained the lead, 9-8, as they scored one run in the home half of the eighth.

The Upstate offense again showed up in the ninth as the Spartans posted five runs in the final inning.  Tyler Cook (Bloomington, Ill.) delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit as his single to center allowed two Spartans to score putting Upstate ahead 12-9.  The Spartans added one more run to take a 13-9 lead.

Charleston Southern, trailing 13-10, had the bases loaded with two out, but Derek Smith struck out swinging to end the game.

There were a total of 13 pitchers used on Wednesday and it was a pair of relievers serving as the pitcher of record.  Upstate's Ryan Fern (Oviedo, Fla.) pitched the final two innings en route to his first win of 2011.  Fern allowed two runs on three hits while striking out three.  CSU reliever Corey Deighan blew the save and fell to 1-1 on the season after allowing five earned runs on two hits as he faced six batters and recorded just one out.

Liput and Weber each recorded three hits and combined for three RBI and three runs.  Green and Wiggins had two hits each and every Spartan had a hit on Wednesday.

Upstate will return to action on Friday evening when they battle A-Sun foe Jacksonville at 6:30 p.m.