SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Following up on securing the No. 2 seed in the Big South Baseball Championship with an 8-0 shutout victory Friday night, USC Upstate baseball couldn't hold UNC Asheville's offense at bay for a second straight game as the Bulldogs broke out and evened the series Saturday as Upstate fell 11-3 at Cleveland S. Harley Park.
 
Asheville came out swinging, jumping out to an early lead it wouldn't relinquish with a four-run second inning while holding the Spartans out of the hit column until the third inning. Upstate got a run back in the third and two in the fourth but two additional big innings—a three-run fourth and four-run seventh—from the Bulldogs put the game away.
 
Redshirt sophomore leftfielder Noah Rabon led Upstate at the plate, finishing the afternoon 2-for-4 as he delivered the Spartans' biggest hit of the game with a double and two-run homer to left. The homer, his seventh of the year, improved his RBI total to 51, the most in a single season by a player in the program's Division I era. Redshirt sophomore first baseman Grant Sherrod and redshirt junior centerfielder Jack Hennessy added the team's other extra-base hits with a triple and double, respectively.
 
Game Information
Score: UNC Asheville 11; USC Upstate 3
Records: USC Upstate (32-19; 17-6 Big South); UNC Asheville (18-26; 12-8 Big South)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
Scoring Summary

• T2: Using four straight two-out singles and taking advantage of an Upstate error, UNC Asheville struck first Saturday afternoon as Dominic Freeberger and Robbie Burnett drove in three of the Bulldogs' four runs in the inning. The final run came in on a fielding error with the bases loaded, allowing Burnett to score.
• B3: Following a triple off the wall in left-center by Grant Sherrod, Jack Hennessy delivered Upstate's first run with a sacrifice fly to center.
• T4: Opening the inning with a hit, walk, sacrifice bunt, and an HBP to load the bases, the Bulldogs tacked on three more runs using a sac fly, throwing error, and RBI single to extend their lead to 7-1.
• B4: With Noah Myers at first after he led off the fourth with a single, Noah Rabon hit his seventh homer of the year with a shot to left, trimming into the Asheville lead.
• T7: Behind four hits and a walk in the inning, Asheville hung four additional runs on the scoreboard as Dylan Bacot, Michael Groves, and Brock Mercado each had a run-producing hit with Bacot's and Mercado's hits going for extra bases.

 
Notable

• After seeing the team's home run streak snapped last night after 12 games, Upstate looks to start a new streak as Noah Rabon hit his seventh homer of the year Saturday. The homer extended his hitting and reached base streak to 14 games with both streaks marking the longest active streaks by a Spartan.
• With two RBI against UNC Asheville, Rabon upped his season runs batted in total to 51. His 51 RBI stand as a single-season record in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.). Saturday's game marked his team-leading 16^th multi-RBI game.
• Coming out of the bullpen and working the final two innings of the game, Julian Parson struck out a career-high four. The Spartans struck out 10 total batters Saturday for the team's 14^th double-digit strikeout game on the mound.

 
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