SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Julian Rip was a double short of the cycle and Jack Gallagher stepped up with a two-run double in the eighth as the Spartans defeated Northwestern University 11-9 in a back-and-forth slug fest on Sunday afternoon at Cleveland S. Harley Park. This was Upstate's second victory over a Big 10 team this week, and the squad improved to 11-5 with the win.

Rip was 3-for-4 at the plate on the day with his first homerun of the season in the first inning followed by a triple in the third. He swiped two bags and scored four runs in the game. Jack Gallagher drove in a game-high three runs on two hits. Jason Matthews and Jack Hennessy each knocked in a pair of runs while Jeff Taylor and Devin Buckner both recorded an RBI as well.

Johnathan Carlyle made his first start on the mound for the Spartans and had a pair of strikeouts in two innings. Matthew Dinkel took over in the third for his first career appearance and settled down to throw 3.2 innings with three strikeouts, giving up just two earned runs. Wheeler entered in the sixth and allowed just one hit, one run, one walk, and struck out four batters in 3.0 innings to get credit for the win and improve to 2-1. Will Lancaster took the mound with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and closed it out to pick up his first save of the year.

SCORING BREAKDOWN
B1: Matthews drew a leadoff walk and made it to second on Taylor's sac bunt before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Buckner knocked Matthews in on a sac fly to right. Rip then sent the first pitch of his at bat over the scoreboard for a solo homerun to put the Spartans up 2-0.

T2:  Northwestern took a 3-2 lead in the top of the second on RBI singles from Minarovic, Tanner, and Maxwell.

B2: Upstate got three runs back in the bottom of the inning starting with a two-out, two-run double to left center from Matthews, scoring Braden Durham and Garrett Stevens who both walked to reach base. Taylor then drove in Matthews with a single to left to take a 5-3 lead.

T3: The top of the third was a rough inning for the Spartans as a pair of runs were walked in and Bourbon added another RBI single to give the Wildcats a 6-5 lead.

B3: The Spartans once again answered back in the bottom of the inning as Rip hit a triple off the wall in the right center gap before making it home on a sac fly to right from Gallagher to even things up at 6-6.

B5: After retiring the side in the top of the inning, the Spartans took a 9-6 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Rip was hit by a pitch to lead things off, stole second, and made it to third on Gallagher's single through the 5-6 hole. Durham drew a walk to load the bases, and all runners advanced on a passed ball that scored Rip. Hennessy then ripped a two-run single up the middle to drive in Gallagher and Durham.

T6: The Wildcats got a pair of runs back in the top of the sixth as a leadoff double by Maxwell, who advanced to third on a bad pickoff attempt by Upstate, set Hrustich up for an RBI groundout to third. Minarovic picked up his second RBI single of the game to bring Northwestern within one run of the Spartans at 9-8.

T8: With two outs in the top of the eighth, Trautwein tied things up at nine with a solo shot over the right field wall.

B8: Matthews got things going in the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff single to second. He was pushed to second on Buckner's single to right but unsuccessfully tried to take third base as well. With two outs, Rip reached on an error by Northwestern's first baseman to set Gallagher up for his clutch game-winning two-run double off the wall in right center to give Upstate the 11-9 lead.

UP next for the Spartans
Upstate hosts Jackson State University in a midweek series beginning Tuesday, March 10 at 4:00 p.m. Game two will be Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.

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