SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate baseball opens up the last week of regular season play with a road trip to No. 18 Louisville for a midweek contest against the Cardinals on Tuesday at 3 p.m. Both teams are coming off a conference weekend sweep.

Midweek MatchUP
Tuesday, May 18 | 3:00 p.m. EST
USC Upstate (34-13, 25-12 BSC) at Louisville (26-18, 16-13 ACC)
Jim Patterson Stadium | Louisville, Ky.

TV: ACC Network

Projected Starting Pitchers
RHP Nate Payne [0-1, 4.12 ERA, 24K] vs. RHP Jack Perkins [1-1, 7.62 ERA, 11K]

Series History
Tuesday will be just the second meeting all-time between the two clubs, and the first since 1989 when the then-USC Spartanburg Rifles fell 9-7 against the Cards at Harley Park.

Last Time Out
The Spartans recently suffered a three-game sweep this past weekend at home against Campbell for the first time since getting swept at Charleston Southern May 10-12, 2019. It was also the first time Upstate has lost three consecutive games at home since April 12-18, 2019. In Friday's series opener, the Spartans plated four runs in the fifth to erase a four-run deficit, but ultimately fell 6-5 before dropping the first game of Saturday's doubleheader 12-0 in seven innings and the series finale 8-0.

Louisville also suffered a three-game conference sweep this past weekend at North Carolina. The Cardinals managed a solo homerun in a 5-1 game one loss before getting shut out 5-0 on Saturday. UNC finished off the sweep with a 10-5 win on Sunday.

Ones to Watch
Upstate:
Senior Julian Rip is riding a 15-game on-base streak, recording at least a hit in 13 of those games with three hits in four games during that span. He is batting .328 this season, which ranks second on the team, with four homers, two triples, and five doubles. He is 12-14 on stolen base attempts, which is tied for fifth in the Big South Conference.

Louisville:
Alex Binelas got off to a slow start but has returned to being a major run producer in the middle of the Louisville order. Over his last 28 games, Binelas is hitting .312 (34-for-109) with three doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 45 RBIs. He registered his third career multi-homer game against Florida State, including his first career grand slam, and later homered in all three games of the series at Virginia.

Notes

• At 34-13, the Spartans set a DI program record for wins in a single season in last week's midweek win at UNC Asheville. This is just the sixth time in program history, dating back to 1986, that the Spartans have won 34 games in a single season. Further, it's just the second time as an NCAA institution this milestone has been reached. As an NAIA institution, the Spartans won 34 games twice, 35 games once, and 36 games once from 1986-1990.
• The Spartans are 2-1 against ACC teams this year, and this is the first time in program history they have beaten two ACC teams in a single season. Upstate split the season series at Clemson, taking the first matchup 12-2 on March 9 before falling 9-2 in the second game against the Tigers on May 5. Between those two games, Upstate defeated nationally-ranked Georgia Tech 9-3 on the road on April 6.
• Seven of Upstate's main starters are batting over .300, led by Jack Hennessy with a .333 average. Hennessy is joined by Julian Rip and Devin Buckner in batting over .320, with a .328 and .321 average, respectively. As a team, the Spartans rank second in the conference and 31st in the nation with a .294 team batting average.
• Shortstop Jason Matthews and third baseman Noah Rabon lead the team with 58 hits, which is tied for third in the Big South. Jack Hennessy's 54 hits are tied for eighth in the league while Devin Buckner has 53, which is tied for 10^th.
• Upstate's pitching staff continues to dominate the Big South as the Spartans lead the conference and rank 11th in the nation with a 3.45 ERA. Upstate also leads the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.81, 35^th nationally), hits allowed per nine innings (8.37), walks allowed per nine innings (3.25, 24^th nationally), and WHIP (1.29, 33rd nationally).

UP Next for the Spartans
The Spartans head back to Asheville at the end of the week to close out the regular season with a three-game series against the Bulldogs. Game one is Thursday, May 20 at 5 p.m. with a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 1 p.m. Upstate is 2-0 against UNC Asheville so far this season with a pair of midweek wins.

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