Baseball 5/7/2017 12:00:00 AM

Spartans Claim Series Against North Florida with Walk-Off Victory

Box Score

Spartanburg, S.C. – Russell Schwertfeger was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded with one out in the ninth inning, giving USC Upstate a 4-3 victory over North Florida on Sunday afternoon at Harley Park. With the win, the Spartans claimed the weekend series against the Ospreys.

Upstate improves to 21-26 overall and 5-10 in the ASUN Conference while North Florida drops to 32-17 and 11-4.

Scoring Breakdown

Bottom 2^nd – Jake Bourke reached on a one-out single and advanced to second on a Hunter Gilbert base hit. Bourke scored on a Drake Harris single followed by a Jordan Miller single that plated Gilbert.
Bottom 3^rd – J.J. Shimko led off the inning with a walk and scored on a Bourke sacrifice fly.
Top 6^th – Dalton Board opened the inning with a single and advanced to second on a Blake Voyles base hit. Board and Voyles scored on an Upstate error on a sacrifice bunt, with the error allowing the tying run to reach third base. Upstate starter Blake Whitney stranded the runner at third thanks to a groundout, strikeout and popout.
Top 8^th – Board reached on a leadoff double, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a Yahir Gurrola single.
Bottom 9^th – Jordan Miller led off the inning with a single before a Devon Ortiz single and Pat Raiff bunt single loaded the bases. Miller was retired at home on a fielder's choice before Schwertfeger was hit on a 2-1 pitch, scoring Ortiz for the game-winning run.

Notables

This is Upstate's second series win over North Florida in the Division I era and first since 2012. The Spartans claimed a 2-1 win in the series opener on Friday.
Whitney allowed three runs (one earned) on seven hits with eight strikeouts in 8.1 innings. He faced the minimum through the first five innings.
Eric Birklund (1-1) earned the win after recording the final two outs in the ninth inning.
Cooper Bradford (1-2) earned the loss, allowing one run on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
Gilbert, Ortiz and Miller each had two hits for Upstate.
All 12 of Upstate's hits were singles.
Board went 2-for-3 with a single, double, and two runs scored to lead North Florida.
Upstate left eight runners on base while North Florida stranded two baserunners.

Up Next