Spartans Use Seventh Inning Runs to Defeat UNC Asheville

Tuesday, April 3

Harley Park (ASUN.TV)

6 pm

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

15-14-1

UNC Asheville

7-20

UNC Asheville

USC Upstate

4/3/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – USC Upstate scored four unearned runs in the seventh inning to break a 5-5 tie as the Spartans defeated UNC Asheville 9-5 in a non-conference matchup at Harley Park on Tuesday evening.

USC Upstate improves to 15-14-1 while UNC Asheville falls to 7-20.

Scoring Breakdown

Top 2^nd – Joe Gruszka led off the inning with a triple and scored on a Jake Madole single.
Top 3^rd – Joe Zayatz reached on a leadoff walk, stole second and advanced to third on a fielder's choice. Zayatz scored on a sacrifice fly.
Bottom 4^th – Russell Schwertfeger hit his team-leading fifth triple of the season to lead off the inning. Schwertfeger scored on a groundout.
Bottom 5^th – Toran Shahidi roped a double to center field to start the inning before reaching third on a wild pitch. A Pat Raiff triple tied the game with Raiff scoring the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice. Schwertfeger scored the final run of the inning on an Andres Kim single.
Top 6^th – Gruszka led off the inning with a ground-rule double. Gruszka advanced to third on an infield single before a walk loaded the bases. The Bulldogs scored two runs on back-to-back sacrifice flies.
Top 7^th – Kole Harris led off the inning with a single and scored on a Zayatz double to tie the game.
Bottom 7^th – A UNC Asheville error with two outs allowed Kim to score the go-ahead run. The Spartans added one run on a Raiff single and two more runs on a Kyle Gensler single.

Notables

Raiff went 3-for-5 with two singles, a triple, two runs scored and two RBI.
Kim finished 2-for-4 with two singles, a run scored and two RBI.
Schwertfeger went 2-for-4 with a single, triple, two runs scored and a RBI.
Gensler went 1-for-3 with a single and three RBI.
Shahidi went 1-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
Gruszka, Madole and Tyler Serricchio each had two hits to lead UNC Asheville.
USC Upstate left 13 runners on base while UNC Asheville stranded nine baserunners.
Grant Hoppock (3-1) earned the win, allowing an unearned run on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts in 1.2 innings.
Blake Brown (0-3) took the loss as he allowed three unearned runs on one hit with a walk and two strikeouts in 0.2 innings.

Up Next

USC Upstate travels to Gardner-Webb tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Follow Upstate baseball on Facebook (UpstateAthletics), Twitter (@UpstateBSB), Instagram (@upstatespartans), YouTube (USCUpstateAthletics) and text/e-mail alerts (www.upstatespartans.com/list-signup).