Midweek MatchUP
Tuesday, April 20 | 3:00 p.m. EST
USC Upstate (23-9, 14-9 BSC) at Presbyterian College (10-11, 9-6 BSC)
PC Baseball Complex | Clinton, S.C.

TV: ESPN+ | Via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN App

Projected Starting Pitchers
LHP Sawyer Worrell [2-0, 2.92 ERA, 22K] vs. LHP Austin Paradis [0-1, 8.10 ERA, 3K]

Series History
Tuesday's matchup will be the 24th meeting between the two clubs in Upstate's Division I, and the Blue Hose hold the advantage in the series 13-10. The series dates back to March 26, 2008, when the Spartans knocked off the Blue Hose 7-6 in Spartanburg. Upstate snapped a three-game losing streak against PC in the most recent matchup between the two clubs back on March 23, 2021, when the Spartans put forth a dominant performance in a 13-0 win at home.

Last Time Out
Upstate enters Tuesday's game having lost two of three to conference foe Charleston Southern on the road this past weekend. The Spartans took home the win 2-0 in game one of the weekend series behind a lights out performance on the mound from ace Jordan Marks. Marks went the distance to pick up his first career complete game shutout, and did so while surrendering just four hits and two walks on the night. He managed to work his way out of a jam in the first inning, and was dominant for the remainder of the game.

The Spartans started strong in game two, building a 4-1 lead halfway through the seventh behind efforts at the plate from Jack Gallagher, Julian Rip, and Jason Matthews. Gallagher got the scoring started in the top of the second with a leadoff homer to left—his 30th RBI of the season—and Julian Rip would score the second run for the Spartans in the third following a leadoff double and a sac fly from Jason Matthews. Rip would come to the plate with a solo home run to extend the Spartans' lead to 3-0 in the top of the fifth. Charleston Southern responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth, and the two sides went quiet until Jack Hennessy extended Upstate's lead to 4-1 with an RBI single in the top of the seventh. The Buccaneers would respond with two runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to 4-3. After a scoreless top of the eighth for Upstate, Charleston Southern took the lead on a two-run home run. The Spartans were unable to respond in the ninth, and fell 5-4 in game two.

Game three of the weekend would see the bats go quiet for Upstate, and they managed just four hits in the game. Noah Rabon was one of the few bright spots for the Spartans at the plate in game two with a double and a single. The Buccaneers were able to slowly build a lead in game three, scoring a single run in the first, third, and fifth inning, before adding two more runs in the sixth, and their sixth and final run in the eighth. The Spartans were unable to plate any runs of their own, and fell 6-0 in game three.

The Blue Hose enter the midweek matchup following a four-game weekend series on the road against Big South opponent Longwood in which PC took three of four games from the Lancers. PC took game one of the series 7-6 on Friday night in a back-and-forth affair which saw the two sides combine for 27 hits. The Blue Hose were not as fortunate in game two of the series, which was also played on Friday, as they fell to the Lancers 8-5 in seven innings. They were held scoreless until the sixth, when they exploded for five runs to cut the deficit to three. Despite their best efforts, however, they were unable to mount the comeback in the seventh. The Blue Hose and Lancers met for another double header just a day later, the second game of which was rescheduled from March 12. The Blue Hose would take home the win in both games, winning the first game 10-9 in 10 innings, and the second game 6-5. In Saturday's first game, the two teams were once again active at the plate, with the two sides combined for 21 hits. Both teams plated runs in the ninth to extend the game, and PC outscored Longwood 3-2 in the tenth to come away with the win. In the last game, the Blue Hose would score five of their six runs in the last three innings, and Chris Veach walked it off with an RBI-double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Blue Hose the 6-5 victory.

Ones to Watch
Upstate:

• Freshman Noah Rabon enters the midweek matchup following a 3-for-9 performance this past weekend in which he extended his on-base streak to 23 games against the Buccaneers. His .305 batting average is good enough for fifth on the Spartans' roster, while his .492 slugging percentage is second on the team. Additionally, Rabon's 24 RBI rank third on Upstate's roster and eighth in the Big South Conference. Rabon also sits second on the team and in the Big South in doubles with 11.
• Senior shortstop Jason Matthews enters Tuesday's game following a 3-for-3 outing against Charleston Southern on Friday. He currently leads all Spartans in runs (29), hits (44), and doubles (13), is second in batting average (.326), and is third in slugging percentage (.467). Matthews also finds himself among the statistical leaders in the Big South Conference, as he currently leads the league in hits and doubles, and is currently 10th and 12th in RBI and batting average, respectively, among all Big South hitters.
• Junior outfielder Jeff Taylor continues to be a threat at the plate for the Spartans with a team-best .342 batting average. He enters the matchup against Presbyterian as the Spartans' leader in OPS (.980) and slugging percentage (.566). His batting average also ranks eighth in the Big South.

Presbyterian College:

• Chris Veach enters this midweek contest as the Blue Hose's leader in batting average (.356) and hits (31), and is second on PC's roster in OPS (.851) and on-base percentage (.391). He is coming off a strong performance in PC's weekend series against Longwood in which he was 7-for-18 with two runs and three RBI across the four-game series. Veach's .356 batting average is also good enough for seventh in the Big South Conference.
• Eric Toth is coming off a strong weekend series against Longwood, and he'll come into Tuesday's game having gone 5-for-9 at the plate for the Blue Hose in their doubleheader on Saturday. Toth currently leads PC in RBI at 16, and is second in hits and slugging percentage with 25 and .483, respectively.

Notes

• RHP Jordan Marks earned Big South Player of the Week honors for his dominant performance this past Friday night against Charleston Southern. Marks tossed a complete game shutout—the first of his career—while surrendering just four hits and two walks in the 2-0 win. His 70 strikeouts rank 17th in all of Division I, and his 1.62 ERA ranks 19th in all of DI.
• The Spartan offense continues to rank highly in the Big South Conference's statistical standings, as Upstate currently leads the conference in hits (304) and ranks second in batting average (.281), doubles (57), triples (11), RBI (176), slugging percentage (.396), hit-by-pitch (58), and on-base percentage (.376).
• The Spartans' pitching staff has been a consistent force all season long, and they continue to sit atop the Big South Conference in most statistical categories. Upstate's arms currently lead the Big South in team ERA (2.79), runs allowed (104), earned runs allowed (87), strikeouts (296), and opposing batting average (.227).
• National Rankings: Sixth in team ERA (2.79), 23rd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.15), 39th in RPI.

UP Next for the Spartans
Upstate will host Big South Conference foe Longwood in a three-game series this weekend, with the first pitch of the series scheduled for 6 p.m. EST on Friday, April 23. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 2 p.m. as part of the Super Spartan Spring Weekend.

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