Weekend Series MatchUP
Game 1: Friday, February 26 | 4:00 p.m. EST
Game 2: Saturday, February 27 | 2:00 p.m. EST
Game 3: Sunday, February 28 | 1:00 p.m. EST
USC Upstate (3-0, 0-0 BSC) at College of Charleston (2-2, 0-0 CAA)
Patriots Point | Charleston, S.C.

Projected Starting Pitchers
Game 1: RHP Jordan Marks [1-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 K] vs. LHP Jordan Carr [0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 K]
Game 2: RHP Alex Garbrick [1-0, 1.80 ERA, 8 K] vs. RHP Ty Good [1-0, 3.18 ERA, 7 K]
Game 3: RHP Ben Ferrer [1-0, 6.35 ERA, 8 K] vs. RHP Caswell Smith [0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 K]

Series History
Friday will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Spartans and Cougars, and the first since March 31, 2015. College of Charleston holds the advantage in the overall series 6-2. Upstate took the first-ever meeting between the two teams back on April 13, 2010, but has since dropped the last three straight matchups.

Last Time Out
The Spartans are coming off an opening weekend sweep over the University of Toledo.
Game One Recap | Game Two Recap | Game Three Recap

The Cougars took their opening series against NC A&T, but are coming off an 18-7 midweek loss to Georgia Southern on Wednesday.
Charleston vs. GSU Recap

Ones to Watch
Upstate

• Jason Matthews, Noah Rabon, Jack Gallagher, and Cameron MacIntosh have all recorded a hit in each game so far this season. Gallagher is on a six-game hit streak dating back to March 8, 2020 against Northwestern. He batted .462 this past weekend with six hits, a double, and three RBI.
• Friday night starter Jordan Marks earned Big South Starting Pitcher of the Week honors after making his third consecutive opening day start for the Spartans on Friday night and throwing six innings of nearly perfect baseball to pick up the win. He allowed just one baserunner in his day of work as he put down Toledo in order in five of his six innings. Marks ended his outing with nine strikeouts and one hit, and gave up zero earned runs and walks.
• Matthews was named Big South Player of the Week on Monday for his efforts against Toledo during opening weekend as he batted .462 with six hits, six RBI, four runs, and two doubles. He hit 3-for-5 on opening day with five RBI and a walk, and three of those RBI came from a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the fourth inning. The shortstop also fielded a perfect weekend with six assists and two putouts and swiped two bags on two attempts.
• Kevin Davis picked up Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week honors for his dominant performance in game three against Toledo on Sunday. He entered the game in the top of the seventh with one out after the Spartans had given up two runs in the inning to have their lead cut down to 7-6. With the game-tying run on second base, Davis fanned both batters he faced to get Upstate out of the inning and went on to close the game and get the save, throwing 2.2 innings with eight total strikeouts out of nine batters faced.

College of Charleston

• Joseph Mershon is leading the Cougars at the plate so far this season with a .462 batting average, .846 slugging percentage, and .563 on base percentage. He notched a grand slam in game two against NC A&T and went 4-for-7 in the doubleheader.
• Trotter Harlan leads the team with seven hits and went 3-for-5 with a two-run double in the midweek game against GSU.
• Starting pitchers Jordan Carr and Caswell each boast a 0.00 ERA through a combined 8.2 innings pitched and six strikeouts between the two of them. Saturday's starter Ty Good went 5.2 innings with seven strikeouts last Saturday to get the win in his first collegiate start.

Notes

• This weekend will be the first road trip for the Spartans since March 4 of last year, a neutral site game against Michigan State, and the first true away game since facing the Gamecocks in Columbia on May 14, 2019.
• The Spartans are currently riding a six-game win streak dating back to March 8, 2020 against Northwestern. Upstate has recorded eight or more hits in each game during that span, 11 or more hits in four of those games, and at least one extra-base hit in each of those six games.
• The pitching staff has combined for 13 or more strikeouts in each game this season and currently ranks third in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio.

UP Next for the Spartans
The Spartans return home to Harley Park next weekend to get their first taste of conference play this season as they host Radford in a three-game series. First pitch for game one on Friday, March 5 is set for 4 p.m. with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 5 beginning at 1 p.m. and game three to follow.

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