Rabon & Matheny HR Celebration GWU BSC 1 2022
Bailey White
2
Gardner-Webb GWU 23-35
4
Winner USC Upstate UPST 35-20-1
Gardner-Webb GWU
23-35
2
Final
4
USC Upstate UPST
35-20-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Gardner-Webb GWU 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 0
USC Upstate UPST 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 X 4 8 0

W: Morgan, Austin (5-2) L: SWITALSKI, Tyler (5-5)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Behind a 4-2 Comeback Victory over Gardner-Webb, Baseball Claims First Ingles Big South Baseball Championship Victory

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Beginning the team's quest for a Big South Conference championship, USC Upstate baseball moved one step closer to that goal with the program's first victory at the Ingles Big South Baseball Championship with a come-from-behind 4-2 win Thursday afternoon against No. 6 seed Gardner-Webb.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs struck first, using a pair of sacrifices, a sac bunt and sac fly, and an RBI single to plate two runs in the third to stake an early advantage. The Spartans cut the lead in half in the fourth as redshirt sophomore leftfielder Noah Rabon hit his team-lead-tying eighth homer of the year on a ball that clung off the bleachers in left-center. Tying the game, freshman starting pitcher Noah Sullivan helped himself out with an RBI single to left, drawing even at 2-2. An RBI single to center from redshirt junior centerfielder Jack Hennessy proved the go-ahead run in the seventh before a squeeze from Troy Hamilton provided some insurance in the 4-2 victory.
 
On the mound, Sullivan, despite picking up a no-decision, put forth a career-best effort, working 6.2 innings while scattering six hits and two runs to collect his second quality start of the season and tying a career-high with five strikeouts. For the seventh time in as many relief appearances, senior right-hander Austin Morgan earned a decision, picking up his fifth victory of the season after tossing the final 2.1 innings of the game, allowing just a single hit.
 
Game Information
Score: No. 2 USC Upstate 4; No. 6 Gardner-Webb 2
Records: USC Upstate (35-20-1); Gardner-Webb (23-35)
Location: Truist Point | High Point, N.C.
 
Scoring Summary
  • T3: Opening the inning with back-to-back singles, Gardner-Webb employed a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly to plate the first run of the game. An RBI single to left from Alec Burns pushed across the second tally of the frame, creating an early 2-0 advantage for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
  • B4: Attacking the first pitch he saw in his second at-bat, Noah Rabon got a run back for the Spartans with a homer off the row of bleachers beyond the wall in left-center. Initially ruled a double by the umpires on the field as the ball bounced back into the field of play, replay confirmed the homer and cut the Gardner-Webb lead in half.
  • B6: After a leadoff double from Devin Buckner and a subsequent bunt single from Noah Myers, Noah Sullivan tied the game as he buried a single in front of the leftfielder as Buckner came down the line to score.
  • B7: Reaching with a bunt single, being sacrificed into scoring position, and advancing to third on a groundout to the right side, Cameron MacIntosh plated the go-ahead run as Jack Hennessy laced a single into centerfield to deliver Upstate the lead.
  • B8: Singling, stealing second, and advancing to third on a wild pitch, Rabon came home on a squeeze bunt from Troy Hamilton, adding an insurance run for the Spartans.
 
Notable
  • With Thursday's victory, Upstate earned its first victory at the Big South Baseball Championship, playing the program's fourth game at the event since joining the conference ahead of the 2018-19 academic year.
  • Upstate's victory Thursday also marked the team's 72nd victory over the last two seasons, establishing a new program record for wins in consecutive seasons. The 72 wins bests the previous mark of 71 set by the 1987 and 1988 squads.
  • With Rabon's homer in the fourth inning, Upstate has hit 25 home runs over the team's last 19 games after hitting 14 over the first 37 games of the season. During the 19-game stretch, the Spartans have homered in 16 of the 19 games.
  • Working out of the bullpen for the seventh time this season, Austin Morgan collected his seventh straight decision as he picked up his second relief win of the season to add to five saves in as many attempts. In relief, Morgan has tossed 16.1 consecutive scoreless innings as he's allowed just five hits, three walks, and three hit-by-pitch.
  • Tossing a career-high 6.2 innings Thursday, Noah Sullivan has gone 5.0 innings or longer in each of his last four starts as he collected his second career quality start after allowing just two runs against Gardner-Webb. He also tied a career-high with five strikeouts with both games featuring in his quality starts.
 
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