Midweek MatchUP
Tuesday, April 6 | 6:00 p.m. EST
USC Upstate (18-6, 11-6 BSC) at Georgia Tech (14-9, 11-7 ACC)
Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium | Atlanta, Ga.

TV: ACC Network Extra
Radio: WREK 91.1 FM

Projected Starting Pitchers
LHP Sawyer Worrell [1-0, 2.45 ERA, 17K] vs. RHP Cort Roedig [0-1, 10.80 ERA, 2K]

Series History
Tuesday will be the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and Yellow Jackets on the diamond. The Spartans are 2-15 against ACC opponents in the Division I era, and are 88-103 in midweek matchups in the DI era. However, the Spartans are 1-0 against ACC teams this year—the lone ACC contest was a 12-2 win over Clemson on March 9—and are undefeated in midweek matchups under head coach Mike McGuire and his staff.

Last Time Out
The Spartans are coming off a road series win against Radford this past weekend that started off with a 3-2 win on Friday night. The Spartan pitching staff didn't surrender a run until the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Highlanders plated another run in the bottom of the ninth, but their rally ultimately fell short. In Saturday's doubleheader, the Highlanders took the first game 5-2 after the Spartans fell behind early and later gave up four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Upstate attempted to rally by plating a run in the top of the eighth and ninth innings, but were unable to complete the comeback. The two clubs traded blows in the rubber match that ultimately could not be decided in nine innings. The Spartans scored off a sac fly from Jack Hennessy in the top of the 10th to take a 5-4 lead, and the Highlanders were unable to respond in the bottom half of the inning.

Georgia Tech enters the midweek matchup having lost two of three in a weekend series to Virginia. The Yellow Jackets started off strong in the series with a 6-5 win over the Cavaliers on Thursday behind a strong effort from starting pitcher Brant Hurter. However, they were unable to replicate that success on Friday and Saturday, falling to the Cavaliers 8-2 and 11-4, respectively.

Ones to Watch
Upstate:

• Sophomore outfielder Jack Hennessy enters the midweek matchup following a solid weekend series against Radford in which he accounted for two RBI, including the winning run via a sac fly in game three. He currently ranks second on the Spartans' roster in batting average at .324, and is third in OPS at .874. Hennessy will look to extend a four-game hit streak that began in the March 27 matchup against Winthrop.
• Junior Devin Buckner continues to lead the Spartan offense, and currently leads all qualified Spartan hitters in batting average (.341), OPS (.920), walks (17), and on-base percentage (.481). Buckner's performance against Radford this past weekend extended his streak of safely reaching base to 12 games, dating back to the March 13 matchup with Campbell. His batting average is good enough for eighth in the conference, while his 28 hits sees him tied with fellow Spartan Noah Rabon for fourth in the conference.
• Freshman Noah Rabon is coming off a weekend series in which he was 5-for-13 at the plate with three RBI and a run scored. Rabon currently leads the Spartans in slugging percentage at .483, and is tied for second on the team in hits with 28. Additionally, Rabon is tied with Jason Matthews for the team and conference lead in doubles with nine. He is riding a nine-game hit streak and has safely reached base in 15 straight games.

Georgia Tech:

• Freshman Kevin Parada enters the midweek matchup as the Yellow Jackets' biggest offensive threat. Prada leads the team in batting average (.413), hits (38), slugging percentage (.685), and is tied for the team lead in RBI (21) and runs (20). He also currently leads the ACC in batting average and is second in the conference in hits.
• Freshman Drew Compton is coming off a strong weekend series against Virginia in which he was 5-for-12 at the plate with two RBI, two runs scored, a double, and a triple. Compton is second on the Yellow Jacket roster in batting average at .356, and is tied with Kevin Parada for the team lead in RBI and runs at 21 and 20, respectively.

Notes

• Head coach Mike McGuire secured his 400th career win against Radford on Friday, bringing his career record to an impressive 401-286. His record at Upstate now stands at 31-11.
• As a team, the Spartans lead the Big South Conference in hits (223) and runs (144), and rank second in batting average (.278), on-base percentage (.376), RBI (129), and slugging percentage (.380).
• The Spartan pitching staff continues to post dominant numbers, leading the Big South in team ERA (2.41), opposing batting average (.220), runs allowed (65), earned runs (57), and strikeouts (220).
• National rankings: fifth in team ERA (2.41), ninth in hit-by-pitch (47), 13th in fielding percentage (.979), 15th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.38), 38th in RPI.

UP Next for the Spartans
The Spartans will host Big South Conference foe Gardner-Webb for a three-game weekend series beginning with game one on Friday, April 9, at 6 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.

JOIN UP
Make a difference in the lives of USC Upstate student-athletes!  Donate to the USC Upstate U Club today!

Keep UP with the Spartans
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics
Twitter | @UpstateBSB @UpstateSpartans
Instagram | @UpstateBSB @UpstateSpartans
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans