Closing Time: Spartans Set for Season Finale at Campbell
5/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – When the final out is recorded in the series finale on Friday between USC Upstate and Campbell, the Spartans will say a pair of goodbyes. The three-game conference tilt will be the final series between the Spartans and the Camels as members of the Atlantic Sun as Campbell will officially join the Big South on July 1.
The Spartans will also bid farewell to the transitional phase of Upstate's move to Division I. After completing the mandated four-year transition from Division II to Division I, the Spartans will be fully eligible for all A-Sun and NCAA Championships beginning this fall.
Upstate owns an 8-1 all-time record against the Camels and are a perfect 3-0 in Buies Creek, N.C. Last season the Spartans claimed a 2-1 series win at Harley Park (Apr. 16-17, 2010) as it claimed game one, 6-5, dropped game two (L, 6-13) and won the finale by a score of 4-3.
First Pitch…
• In the bottom of the sixth inning vs. Mercer (May 14), Blake Green singled up the middle with two-outs to become Upstate's new single-season hits leader with 84... He added three more over the course of the three-game set and now has 87 in 2011.
• Austin Liput tied a school-record with his eighth triple of the season... Liput's RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth in the series finale vs. Mercer brought home Gaither Bumgardner and tied the game at 3-3.
• Luke Weber connected on his 20th double of the season against The Citadel (5/11) and is tied for the school-record and he is just the third player in program history to tally 20 doubles in one season.
• Six different Spartans recorded multiple hits in the series finale at Kennesaw State (5/7)... Tyler Miller led the way with four hits, while Blake Green, Trey Richardson, Grason Wiggins and Branden Millhouse each tallied three hits... Wiggins connected on his first career home run and Luke Weber joined the hit parade with two hits.
• The Spartans totaled 20 hits in the 13-9 win over Kennesaw State (5/7) and it marked the first time in nearly two years that the Spartans tallied 20 hits (North Florida, 22 hits, L, 16-21, May 9, 2009, DH Game 1).
• Blake Green became just the ninth Spartan in program history to tally 200 or more career hits with his RBI single in the top of the sixth at Virginia Tech (5/4).
• Scott DeCecco carried a no-hitter into the fifth and tied a career-high with 8.1 innings pitched at The Citadel on Apr. 23... DeCecco tossed 125 pitches allowing just two runs on seven hits to pick up his fourth win of 2011... Jake Waller recorded the final two outs against the Bulldogs and earned his first career save.
• Christian Faust tallied a career-high three hits in Upstate's 6-2 win over The Citadel (4/23, DH Game 1).
Scouting Campbell
• Campbell enters the final series of the season with a 16-35 mark overall and sits 2-25 in league play... Since downing the North Florida Ospreys (W, 5-1, Apr. 9 (DH Gm 1)), the Camels have won just one game in a 17 game stretch... The win over North Carolina A&T (W, 12-5, May 10) snapped a 12-game losing streak.
• The trio of Josh Holskey, Ellis Lowe and Jimmy Brenneman lead the Camel attack... Holskey leads the team in with a .357 batting average while recording team-bests with 42 RBI and six homers, while Lowe leads Campbell in hits (74) and doubles (15)... Brenneman is the team leader in runs (42), stolen bases (25) and has been issued 53 free passes (30 HBP, 23 BB).
• Frank Zier is the only Camel pitcher with an ERA below 7.00 in league games (6.28).
Players Mentioned
