SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Freshman Ben Olson blasted his first career homerun over the left field fence in the bottom of the sixth inning, but it proved not enough as USC Upstate (2-1) fell 5-4 to Long Island University (1-2) on Sunday afternoon in the opening weekend series finale.

Olson ended the day with a pair of RBIs after his two-run game-tying bomb. Julian Rip picked up the other two RBIs in the game while Jeff Taylor and Mason Stewart both went 2-for-4 at the plate.

Freshman Sawyer Worrell got the last-minute call on the mound today and went two innings with two strikeouts in his first career start. Austin Morgan and Will Lancaster both made their season debuts before Will Wheeler stepped in to close the game, fanning two batters in the final 1.1 innings.

"Obviously, you go in trying to win every series, and we did that. I'm disappointed that we let the final game get away because I know how hard sweeps are in college baseball," said head coach Mike McGuire. "We didn't pitch as crisply as we did the first two ballgames, and we had some opportunities where we needed strikeouts, but just left some pitches in the middle of the plate that turned into runs. Overall, this weekend wasn't a bad start, and hopefully it's something to build on as we head into the rest of the year."

SCORING BREAKDOWN
B1: Taylor drew a walk and Cameron MacIntosh reached on a fielder's choice before he and Taylor both took an extra base on a bad throw by LIU's shortstop. Rip stepped up with both runners in scoring position and delivered a two-run single right past the third baseman into left field for an early 2-0 Spartans lead.

T3: LIU's Myles Proctor doubled down the left field line to leadoff the third, and later advanced to third on a bad pickoff attempt. Cade Biddle drew a walk before Christopher Wasson drove in Proctor with another double down the left field line. Anthony Warneke sent Biddle home with a single to first, forcing a pitching change for Upstate. Cooper Shearon then ripped a sac fly to left field to score Wasson and give the Sharks a 3-2 lead.

T4: The Sharks extended their lead to 4-2 in the fourth when Andy Camilo drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a sac bunt from Seth Surrett and to third on a single to right by Carlton Harper before making it home on Proctor's groundout to shortstop.

B6: Rip reached on a walk and with two outs, Olson stepped up with his two-run homer to left for a tied ballgame at 4-4.

T7: Proctor answered with a solo homerun in the seventh to retake the lead for the Sharks, 5-4.

Upstate got three runners in scoring position in the last three innings, but couldn't push any of them across the plate as they fell 5-4.

UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans host Furman University in their first midweek matchup of the season on Tuesday, Feb. 18. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.

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