SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The bats stayed hot Tuesday night as USC Upstate baseball defeated cross-town rival Wofford College 11-6 at Cleveland S. Harley Park. The Spartans scattered 10 hits to pick up their fifth straight win and improve to 7-1 so far this season, which is the program's best start since 2012.

Upstate has amassed 75 hits through the first eight games of the season, and tonight the squad was led at the plate by Jason Matthews who went 3-for-4 with three runs. Five of Upstate's hits tonight were good for extra bases as Matthews, Devin Buckner, and Ben Olson each had a double while Cameron MacIntosh and Julian Rip both had a triple.

Rip drove in three runs in the game while MacIntosh and Jack Hennessy also each collected a pair of RBIs. Mason Stewart had a multi-hit performance with an RBI.

Kyle Schmitt improved to 2-0 on the season as he gave up just two hits and two runs with a pair of strikeouts in his 4.2 innings of work. The bullpen was busy tonight as Will Lancaster and Austin Morgan each went 1.2 innings and combined for three strikeouts before Brady Betts made his collegiate debut on the mound. Will Wheeler stepped in to close, shutting down Wofford's late rally and ending the game with the bases loaded for the Terriers.

SCORING BREAKDOWN
B1: Wofford's starting pitcher loaded the bases pretty quickly as Matthews was hit by a pitch to lead things off before Jeff Taylor walked on four straight balls and Buckner got hit by a pitch as well. Rip then reached on a fielder's choice to third to drive in Matthews and even things up at 1-1.

B2: Olson doubled down the left field line to get things going in the bottom of the second and was pushed to third on Davis Wilber's groundout to the third baseman before he scored on Hennessy's sac fly to left field for a 2-1 lead.

B3: The Spartans scored six runs off four hits and a Wofford error in the third, beginning with Buckner's leadoff double to right center. MacIntosh then drew a walk to set Rip up for a two-run triple to left center.

Stewart singled over the second baseman's head to score Rip and was pushed to second on Olson's sac bunt. Wilber reached on yet another hit by pitch and soon after, Stewart made it to third on a passed ball, making it easy for him to score on Hennessy's sac bunt.

Matthews then singled up the middle, and after stealing second, he and Wilber were able to score on an errant throw by Wofford's catcher to put the Spartans up 8-1.

B5: Wofford was able to get a run back in the top of the fifth, but Upstate answered with three more runs in the bottom of the inning. The Spartans loaded the bases as Hennessy walked, Matthews reach on a perfectly executed bunt, and Taylor walked again to force a pitching change. Buckner then knocked in Hennessy and reached on a fielder's choice to set up MacIntosh for his two-run triple to right center.

UP next for the Spartans
Upstate is at home again this coming weekend for a three-game series against Western Kentucky University. The series begins Friday with a 4:00 p.m. first pitch.

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