HIGH POINT, N.C. – While not quite reaching the offensive breakout achieved in the team's Friday win, USC Upstate baseball continued to display its offensive firepower, clubbing three homers in support of stellar pitching Saturday to claim a 4-2 victory and win the series against High Point.
Setting the tone early, the Spartans jumped on the board in a hurry as redshirt junior shortstop
Troy Hamilton mashed a two-run homer to left in the first inning. The two runs set the table for junior left-hander
Henry Proger to stymie the Panther bats as he tossed a career-high 7.1 innings, scattering five hits and seven baserunners while striking out seven on his way to his third win of the season.
Adding some insurance, Upstate received solo homers in the seventh and eighth to extend the lead with redshirt junior catcher
David Pereira and redshirt senior first baseman
Grant Sherrod lacing long balls to left. Out of the bullpen, redshirt sophomore right-hander
Jake Cubbler pitched the final 1.2 innings, surrendering one baserunner and no hits while striking out one to earn the first save of his career.
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 4; High Point 2
Records: USC Upstate (15-9; 2-0 Big South); High Point (7-15; 1-4 Big South)
Location: Williard Stadium | High Point, N.C.
Scoring Summary
- T1: Following up a walk to Easton Cullison, Troy Hamilton hit a deep fly to left that escaped the yard and hung two runs on the scoreboard.
- B2: Getting one of the two surrendered runs back, Charlie Klingler hit a solo homer to right.
- T7: Leading off the seventh, David Pereira launched a solo shot to left to extend Upstate's lead and get the Spartans back the run given up in the second.
- T8: Following Pereira's lead from the previous inning, Grant Sherrod laced a solo homer to leftfield to lead off the eighth and push Upstate's advantage to three.
- B8: Cutting into the lead, Brayden Simpson hit a solo home run to left, trimming the Spartan lead to two runs.
Notable
- With its victory Saturday evening, Upstate has won each of its three Big South-opening series under head coach Mike McGuire. The Spartans took the series from Radford in 2021 and from Presbyterian in 2022, preceding the series win over High Point this season.
- With three additional homers Saturday against High Point, the game marks the sixth for Upstate this season with three-plus long balls. With three homers in each game in the series, it is the second time this season with consecutive three-homer games, joining the Feb. 21 and 22 contests at North Florida.
- Working 1.2 innings against the Panthers, Jake Cubbler earned his first career save and the third save for a Spartan pitcher this season. Each save for Upstate in 2023 is credited to a different pitcher (Noah Sullivan, Julian Parson, and Cubbler) with each save the first of their respective careers.
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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