Walkoff Celebration vs. James Madison Gm 1 2023
Joshua Ragsdale
5
James Madison JMU 8-6
6
Winner USC Upstate UPST 8-7
James Madison JMU
8-6
5
Final
6
USC Upstate UPST
8-7
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
James Madison JMU 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 7 0
USC Upstate UPST 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 3 6 9 4

W: Holguin, Al (2-0) L: Williams, T.R. (0-3)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Snapping Its Skid, Baseball Shows Resolve and Battles Back With a Three-Run Ninth and Walks Off James Madison Friday Night

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Facing a five-game skid and a 5-1 deficit into the late innings, USC Upstate baseball was undeterred as it battled back and snap the losing streak, scoring five runs in the final three innings in a 6-5 walk-off victory over James Madison Friday night at Cleveland S. Harley Park.
 
Trailing 5-1 following the stretch, the Spartans battled to push two runs across in the home half of the seventh as junior second baseman Easton Cullison delivered the first run with an RBI single before redshirt junior leftfielder Noah Rabon raced home on a passed ball to make it 5-3. Coming on in the top of the seventh, sophomore left-hander Al Holguin allowed just two baserunners over 3.0 innings of work to put Upstate in position to capitalize on its grit in the ninth.
 
Leading off the inning, redshirt junior catcher David Pereira earned a walk to flip the lineup to the top where sophomore third baseman Cole Caruso laced a double into the leftfield corner to put two in scoring position. Attacking the first pitch he saw, redshirt junior shortstop Troy Hamilton punched a single into left, plating pinch runners, sophomore Kyle Henington and graduate student Braxton Boddorf and tying the ballgame.
 
Following a balk on a pickoff attempt, Hamilton advanced into scoring position before with one out, he stole third off the left-handed James Madison reliever to set up the walk-off. Against a drawn-in infield, Hamilton read contact on the ground as sophomore designated hitter Johnny Sweeney chopped a grounder to second with Hamilton sliding into the plate ahead of the throw home to complete the comeback.
 
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 6; James Madison 5
Records: USC Upstate (8-7; 0-0 Big South); James Madison (8-6; 0-0 Sun Belt)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
 
Scoring Summary
  • T1: Taking advantage of an error to begin the game and a two-base error on a failed pickoff attempt, James Madison's Kyle Novak drove in the game's first run with a single to right-center.
  • T2: Seeing three hits, including a pair of doubles in the inning, the Dukes tacked on two additional runs on a fielder's choice and an RBI double to stake a 3-0 lead.
  • B3: With two batters reaching base after being hit by pitches to start the inning and both moving into scoring position behind a sac bunt from David Pereira, Upstate used a sac fly from Cole Caruso to get a run back as Noah Rabon came in to score.
  • T4: James Madison answered back with a run in the fourth as an error on a throw pulling the pitcher off the bag with the bases loaded allowed a run to score.
  • T5: The Dukes added another to their advantage as Trevon Dabney hit a solo home run to left-center.
  • B7: Stepping to the plate with one out and two on, Easton Cullison singled into right to drive home the first of two Upstate runs in the inning. The second came as a passed ball allowed Rabon to race home from third.
  • B9: Going to work with two runners in scoring position after Pereira worked a walk and Caruso laced a double into the leftfield corner, Troy Hamilton greeted the new Duke pitcher by attacking the first pitch he saw and dumping a two-run single into right. A balk and steal of third put Hamilton at third before he jetted home on the groundball from Johnny Sweeney, delivering the walk-off win.
 
Notable
  • With its walk-off win Friday night against James Madison, the game marked the Spartans' first walk-off win since February 27, 2022, versus George Mason. In that game, it was Noah Rabon picking up the walk-off hit in the 2-1 Upstate win.
  • Tying the game with his second single of the game and driving in two runs, Troy Hamilton secured the Spartan's lone multi-hit and multi-RBI games of the day. The game is his team-leading sixth multi-hit game as he's notched a multi-hit effort in three straight games and in four of the last five games while also marking his fourth multi-RBI game of the year.
  • With his double in the ninth inning, Cole Caruso extended his team-high reached base streak to 14 games, doubling up his previous career-long streak. Taking an HBP and collecting a single, Daniel Gernon pushed his reached base streak to 13 games.
  • Driving home Upstate's first run, Caruso recorded the Spartans' 13th sacrifice fly of the season. The Spartans entered the weekend ranked third in the NCAA in sac flies.
 
Youth Baseball Field of Dreams Program
Bring your youth baseball team to meet the Spartans and take the field for the National Anthem at select games at Harley Park this season! The program is free and so is admission thanks to Ingles! For details and to sign up, go to www.upstatespartans.com/fieldofdreams
 
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YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans 
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