Baseball

Spartans Use Seventh Inning Runs to Defeat UNC Asheville

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 2nd – Joe Gruszka led off the inning with a triple and scored on a Jake Madole single.
  • Top 3rd – 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 4th – Russell Schwertfeger hit his team-leading fifth triple of the season to lead off the inning. Schwertfeger scored on a groundout.
  • Bottom 5th – 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 6th – 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 7th – Kole Harris led off the inning with a single and scored on a Zayatz double to tie the game.
  • Bottom 7th – 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.

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