SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate baseball is set to wrap up a stellar regular season with a trip to UNC Asheville for a three-game series this Thursday and Friday. The Spartans will face the Bulldogs in a single game on Thursday followed by a doubleheader on Friday.

Weekend Series MatchUP
Game 1: Thursday, May 20 | 5:00 p.m. EST
Game 2: Friday, May 21 | 1:00 p.m. EST
Game 3: Friday, May 21 | 4:30 p.m. EST
USC Upstate (34-14, 25-12 BSC) at UNC Asheville (15-30, 14-23 BSC)
Greenwood Baseball Field | Asheville, N.C.

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

Projected Starting Pitchers
Game 1: RHP Jordan Marks [9-1, 1.94 ERA, 92K] vs RHP Brett Johnson [0-2, 7.97 ERA, 17K]
Game 2: RHP Alex Garbrick [7-3, 3.17 ERA, 66K] vs LHP Jacob Edwards [4-6, 5.90 ERA, 56K]
Game 3: RHP Ben Ferrer [4.00, 3-2, 32K] vs RHP Kole Harris [2-2, 4.39 ERA, 45K]

Series History
The Spartans and Bulldogs have met 19 times in Upstate's DI era, and the Spartans hold a 13-6 advantage in that span. The two clubs have already met twice this season in a pair of midweek matchups with Upstate taking both wins, first by a score of 4-1 at home on March 17 followed by a 7-6 win in Asheville just last week.

Last Time Out
The Spartans are coming off their fourth straight loss after a late rally fell short at No. 18 Louisville Tuesday afternoon. Jack Gallagher and Devin Buckner blasted homeruns in the last two innings, but the Spartans lost 8-6. Buckner finished the day 4-for-5 at the plate with three RBI and Gallagher hit 2-for-3 with his fourth homer of the year.

Asheville is currently riding a five-game skid and most recently suffered a road sweep at the hands of Gardner-Webb. The Bulldogs dropped the first two games by just one run and held a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning of the series finale, but Gardner-Webb plated nine runs in its last three innings for an 11-6 win to clinch the sweep.

Ones to Watch
Upstate:

• Devin Buckner is coming off his second four-hit effort of the year after batting 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored Tuesday at Louisville. He drove in the first run of the game for the Spartans with an RBI double in the third inning, and pulled Upstate back within two runs late in the game with a two-run blast in the top of the ninth for his third homer of the season. Buckner is batting a team second-best .335 on the year with a .482 slugging percentage and leads team with a .480 slugging percentage. He leads the Big South in walks and ranks seventh in the conference in hits (57) and RBI (41), and is tied with teammate Jason Matthews for third in doubles (16).
• After a 2-for-3 outing at the plate against Louisville, Julian Rip leads the Spartans with a .336 batting average. Since April 17, he is batting .446 and slugging .723 with 29 hits, 5 doubles, two triples, three homers, and 22 RBI. He is also a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts in that span and 12-for-14 overall this season, which ranks fifth in the Big South. The right fielder is currently on a 16-game on-base streak, notching a hit in 14 games during that span. In the most recent matchup against Asheville on May 11, Rip batted 3-for-5 with a homer, two runs scored, three RBI, and two stolen bases.

Asheville:

• Dominic Freeberger ranks second on the team with a .332 batting average, and he leads the Big South with 62 hits. He has a total of 20 multi-hit games this season, and enters this series on a seven-game hit streak following six hits scattered across the series at Gardner-Webb.
• Thursday's starter Brett Johnson has not allowed a run on four hits, one walk, and has struck out eight hitters over his last four appearances covering 6.1 innings. Johnson is also holding opposing hitters to a .182 batting average during this stretch.

Notes

• Upstate set a new Division I program record of 34 wins in a single season last Tuesday against 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. Three wins this weekend would break the all-time program record of wins in a single season.
• In Friday night's game against High Point on May 7, ace Jordan Marks broke the school record for strikeouts in a single season, surpassing Tyler Jackson (2016) and Matt Branham (2010) on the all-time list with 87. Additionally, with his league-best ninth win of the season, Marks broke a 31-year-old school record for wins in a single season. Marks ranks second in the Big South with 92 strikeouts, and with 20 career wins ahead of this week's series, a win for him this Thursday would break a school record for wins in a career.
• Three Spartans are batting .327 or better and seven of Upstate's main starters are batting over .300 this season, led by Julian Rip with a .336 average. As a team, the Spartans rank second in the conference and 31st in the nation with a .294 team batting average.
• Upstate's pitching staff continues to dominate the Big South as the Spartans lead the conference and rank 16th in the nation with a 3.55 ERA. Upstate also leads the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.79, 35st nationally), walks allowed per nine innings (3.23, 22nd nationally), and WHIP (1.30, 34th nationally).

UP Next for the Spartans
The Spartans will head to Fayetteville, N.C. for the 2021 Ingles Big South Baseball Championship May 27-29. Tickets are on sale now, and more information can be found here.

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