Courtesy: Todd Shanesy, Spartanburg Herald-Journal
Originally Published: Friday, May 4, 2012, Reposted with Permission
There are hitting streaks, and then there is the kind of hitting streak Gaither Bumgardner is on right now for USC Upstate.
Bumgardner went 5-for-5 for the second straight game Wednesday night at Georgia State, same as he did Tuesday at Wofford, and has 11 straight hits going back to his final at-bat Sunday against Jacksonville.
He is three short of the all-time NCAA Division I record of 14 set by Larry Patterson of Gonzaga in 1977. And with 15 straight plate appearances in which Bumgardner has gotten on base, he is only three away from that mark as well. Shaun Larkin of Cal State Northridge did it 18 times in a row during a four-game span in 2002.
"I'm trying not to think about it too much because I don't want to psych myself out," Bumgardner said. "But the thing I enjoy about it is that I'm going up there knowing that I have a great shot at getting on base for my team every time. It's fun to hit when things are going as well as they are now."
Has he ever been on a streak that felt like this?
"Maybe in Little League," he said.
Bumgardner has raised his batting average 47 points in the two games plus one at-bat. He's gone from .322, which was barely in the top 20 of the Atlantic Sun Conference, to .369, which is tied for second with Clinton Freeman of East Tennessee State and behind only Nick Backlund's .385 for Mercer.
Bumgardner is not benefiting from ground balls that barely slip through the infield and bloopers that drop in front of the outfielders, either. He's been spraying line drives and against Georgia State knocked a double.
"Gaither is doing a great job of hitting the ball between his feet, meaning he's not jumping out on his front foot," USC Upstate head coach Matt Fincher said. "He's letting the ball travel and he's using the whole field. He's really doing well."
Bumgardner, a lanky 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, pitched and played third base last season as a sophomore when he batted .372. He started 45 games as a freshman, playing first and third as well as pitcher, and hit .282.
The former standout at Great Falls, the same high school that produced Atlantic Sun basketball player of the year Torrey Craig of USC Upstate, bats second in the order and now plays center field. In high school, he also played football.
"He's a great athlete with a tremendous amount of ability," Fincher said. "That's why we've had him in just about every game possible since he's been here."
USC Upstate (30-13, 13-5) leads the Atlantic Sun Conference by one game over Belmont and two games over Stetson, where the Spartans play a three-game series beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
"We're very excited to be in the position we're in," Bumgardner said. "We know that every other team in our conference would like to be where we are. So we want to go into this weekend ready to play and take advantage of the opportunity we've been given this year. We're playing really good baseball."
Facts
Can't Get Him Out
Gaither Bumgardner's past three games for Upstate:
Sunday vs. Jacksonville
First inning: Double to right
Third: Walk
Fifth: Fouled out to first base
Eighth: Hit by pitch
Eighth: Single to short
Tuesday at Wofford
First: Single to left
Second: Single to left
Fourth: Single to left
Sixth: Walk
Eighth: Single to right
Ninth: Single to left
Wednesday at Georgia State
First: Hit by pitch
Third: Single to right
Third: Single to left
Fifth: Single to right
Sixth: Double to left
Eighth: Walk
Ninth: Single to right
