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BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – After tying the contest at five in the top of the ninth inning, the USC Upstate baseball team saw its comeback fall short as Gardner-Webb scored the 11th and final run of the contest in the bottom of the 10th to claim a non-conference victory Wednesday night at J.H. Moss Stadium.
Gardner-Webb (14-8) got on the scoreboard first as Dusty Quattlebaum hit a two-run homerun over the wall in right in the bottom of the first.
Upstate's (16-4) Luke Weber (Spartanburg, S.C.) opened the top of the second with a double to the gap in right center. Weber, who advanced to third on a groundout by Trey Richardson (Lakeland, Fla.), scored on a Greg Guers RBI groundout.
The Spartans were able to tie the contest at two with a single run in the top of the fourth. With Gaither Bumgardner (Fort Lawn, S.C.) standing on second, Guers doubled to left allowing Bumgardner to easily score.
Upstate was able to take the lead for the first time in Wednesday's contest with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Austin Liput (Oviedo, Fla.) opened the inning with a single through the right side and was followed by a triple by Brody Greer (Honea Path, S.C.) as Upstate took a 3-2 lead. The Spartans pushed the lead to two (4-2) when Greer scored on a RBI groundout by Jordan Stampler (Davie, Fla.).
Gardner-Webb regained the lead, at 5-4, with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Runnin' Bulldog inning was highlighted by a Zeke Blanton two-RBI single to right.
Down to their final at-bat the Spartans were able to tie the contest when Liput scored from second base thanks to a throwing error by Runnin' Bulldog shortstop Ryan Hodge. Gardner-Webb reliever Adam Izaokovic was responsible for the blown save, the first for the club since Mar. 23, 2011 (Western Carolina). Upstate had runners at the corners with two outs, but Bumgardner lined out to first to end the inning.
The Spartans had runners at first and second in the top of the 10th, but both were left stranded.
In the home half of the 10th, Adam McFarland singled to the gap in left center and Alex Newman scored all the way from first to give Gardner-Webb the 6-5 victory.
Gardner-Webb's Adam Izaokovic earned the win to improve to 2-0, while Upstate's Jordan Rusk (Longwood, Fla.) was tagged with the loss (0-1).
Liput paced the Spartans with two hits and two runs while Guers tallied two RBI.
The Spartans will hit the road this weekend for a three-game set at North Florida beginning Friday night at 6 p.m.
