SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate baseball fell 8-5 to Gardner-Webb in the series opener Friday night at Cleveland S. Harley Park. After getting down 2-0 early in the game, the Spartans (19-7, 11-7 BSC) used a four-run effort in the third to take the lead and later pushed their lead to 5-3 in the fifth. However, the Runnin' Bulldogs (12-11, 11-4 BSC) plated three runs off defensive miscues in the sixth and added two more runs in the eighth, and the Spartans weren't able to answer as they stranded 15 runners in the game, including leaving the bases loaded in back-to-back innings.
"Disappointing outcome tonight. I thought it was a struggle for us all game long. Hitters fell behind and we made some defensive miscues that are uncharacteristic of us, but it happens. We've got to flush it, turn the page, and get ready to play tomorrow," said head coach Mike McGuire. "I thought we did some good things offensively to get Mason Miller out of there. He's a really good arm and has got a really bright future. We had some good at-bats against him, but unfortunately didn't sustain those at-bats once we got him out of there, and that disappoints me. We're better than that. I think we're better in all phases than what we performed today, but credit to Gardner-Webb. They played well and beat us, and we've got to show up ready to play tomorrow."
Jordan Marks made his eighth Friday night start of the season and offered 5.0 solid innings with six strikeouts while giving up just a pair of walks and pair of earned runs. In the fifth inning, he caught the Bulldog batter looking to get out of a jam and end his day of work.
Austin Morgan took over to start off the sixth inning and had four strikeouts in his 1.2-inning outing. He was the pitcher of record which brings him to 2-1 on the year. Derek Sivec entered in the top of the seventh with two outs, a runner on second, and a 2-0 count on the batter at the plate. He struck out the first batter faced and went on to close things out. Sivec fanned five batters and allowed zero walks and just a pair of hits and runs in his 2.1-inning effort.
Jason Matthews recorded his third three-hit game of the year as he went 3-for-5 at the plate with a run scored and two stolen bases. Jeff Taylor also tallied three hits on the day, including his second homerun of the year in the fifth inning, a leadoff solo shot to right that put the Spartans up 5-3. Taylor ended the day 3-for-4 at the plate.
Jack Gallagher smashed his second homerun of the year, a three-run blast to left center in the third inning that gave Upstate its first lead of the night, 4-1. The homer brings his team-leading RBI total up to 27, and helped him to his fifth three-plus RBI game of the year.
Devin Buckner and Noah Rabon each extended their streaks of safely reaching base, as Buckner batted 2-for-4 with an RBI double that got the Spartans on the board in the third inning to push his streak to 14 games. Rabon reached base a couple of times in the game, first on a dropped third strike and errant throw by the Bulldog catcher in the third followed by a hit by pitch in the fourth, to bring his streak to 17 games.
UP Next for the Spartans
The Spartans will look to bounce back in game two of the series tomorrow at 1 p.m.
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