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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate baseball team stranded 10 runners and Wofford, led by Mac Doyle's 5-for-5 effort, claimed a 9-4 victory Wednesday night at Russell C. King Field. The two teams will square off next Wednesday at Harley Park for the second and final meeting of the season for the two Spartanburg schools.
Wofford (14-19) posted three runs over the first two innings to stake an early 3-0 advantage. In the first, James Foster led off with a single to second base. With one out, Mac Doyle singled to left and Foster was able to score the first run of the game thanks to a throwing error by Upstate (22-12) left fielder, Tyler Cook (Bloomington, Ill.). With Doyle standing on third and one out still showing on the scoreboard, Eric Brenk tallied a RBI groundout, allowing Doyle to score, pushing the lead to 2-0.
In the second, the Terriers pushed the lead to three (3-0) as Taylor Rozier scored on Josh Hyman's sacrifice fly to right field.
After Wofford made a pitching change to start the fourth (Connell Anderson for Pete Noordsy), Trey Richardson (Lakeland, Fla.) sent the first pitch he saw over the wall in left. Richardson's second homer of the year trimmed the deficit to two at 3-1.
In the bottom of the frame, Taylor Rozier led off with a double down the right field line and Josh Hyman homered over the wall in left, extending Wofford's lead to 5-1.
With one out in the fifth, Mac Doyle hit a solo home run to left as the Terriers increased the lead to five (6-1).
The Spartans mounted a rally in the sixth as the club loaded the bases with one out. Jordan Stampler (Davie, Fla.) grounded out to second allowing Brandon Patterson (Polk City, Fla.) to score. Austin Liput (Oviedo, Fla.) and Brody Greer (Honea Path, S.C.) were able to move into scoring position on Stampler's groundout. With two outs in the inning, Cook hit a bloop single to center allowing Liput and Greer to score, trimming the deficit to just two runs (6-4).
Wofford tacked on a single run in the seventh as Mac Doyle scored from third on David Roney's RBI single back up the middle.
The Terriers concluded the scoring with two runs in the eighth on a two-out, two-RBI single up the middle, setting the final tally at 9-4.
Upstate starter Ben Augenstein (1-1, Sebastian, Fla.) was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs (five total) on seven hits in three-plus innings of work. Cook led the Spartans at the plate with three hits, while Patterson and Liput added two each.
Wofford's Pete Noordsy, on a pre-determined pitch count, earned the win after allowing three hits and one walk with three punch outs in three innings of work. Mac Doyle led the club at the dish as he finished a double shy of the cycle (5-5, 3R, 3RBI).
The Spartans will return to action this weekend as they travel to Johnson City, Tenn. to face A-Sun foe ETSU. Since claiming a 2-1 series win at Florida Gulf Coast (Mar. 23-25), ETSU has won just three of its last nine games (def. Tennessee, 4-3, Wednesday) as the club sits 16-15 overall and 4-8 in league play.
