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Contact: David Beall, dbeall@uscupstate.edu

Box Score (PDF) | Play-by-Play

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The USC Upstate baseball team allowed a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth Saturday afternoon, falling 6-4 to Lipscomb University in walk-off fashion at Ken Dugan Field in Atlantic Sun Conference action.

The Spartans (18-12, 5-6 A-Sun) see their five-game winning streak come to an end, while the Bisons (11-21, 3-5 A-Sun) even the series and set up the rubber match Sunday afternoon.

The Spartans broke through in the third inning, using a single up the middle by Gaither Bumgardner and three walks, including a bases loaded walk by Daniel Seeba to plate the first run of the game and give Upstate a 1-0 lead.

Lipscomb trailed by that single run until the fifth inning when the Bison bats came alive, recording three hits in the frame, including back-to-back RBI singles by Aaron Sandoval and Tyson Ashcraft to cap a three-run frame and take a 3-1 lead.

Trailing for the first time in the contest in the sixth inning, the Spartans quickly put two runners on base with a Tyler Miller double down the left field line and Jordan Stampler followed and was hit by a pitch. After a groundout moved both runners into scoring position, Tyler Lesch stepped to the dish and launched a three-run blast over the wall in right field, instantly silencing the Lipscomb crowd and giving Upstate the lead right back at 4-3.

The Bisons mounted a rally in the eighth and used a two-out single up the middle from Chad Shannon to plate Zach Lowery and knot the score 4-4.

After Upstate went down in order in the ninth, Lipscomb benefited from an error to put a runner in scoring position and Taylor Stewart ended the contest with a walk-off two-run home run down the left field line to give the Bisons a 6-4 victory.

Ben Augenstein (1-2) was tagged with loss after allowing the game-winning hit, while David Roseboom lasted 7.2 innings and gave up four runs on nine hits, while striking out two and walking two.

The rubber game of the weekend series is slated for Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. EST. Gaither Bumgardner (3-0) is set to take the mound and make his third start of the season.

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