SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Playing in front of a home crowd for the first time in Big South play, USC Upstate baseball continued its strong start to conference play, riding excellent pitching and timely hitting to a 7-2 victory over Winthrop Friday at Cleveland S. Harley Park.
 
In his longest outing in an Upstate uniform, redshirt junior right-hander Reese Dutton tossed 8.0 innings, scattering six baserunners and surrendering two runs to earn his fourth win of the season. He punched out nine batters on the afternoon—his second game of the year with nine-plus strikeouts—and induced two double plays before giving way to redshirt sophomore righty Jake Cubbler who pitched a scoreless ninth.
 
At the plate, redshirt junior first baseman Grant Sherrod recorded his second straight multi-hit effort, going 2-for-4 with a solo home run, homering for the sixth time this season and third during Big South play. He also drove home three runs in the game as he was one of four Spartans with a multi-hit game and one of two with a multi-RBI game.
 
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 7; Winthrop 2
Records: USC Upstate (17-10; 4-0 Big South); Winthrop (12-15; 2-5 Big South)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
Scoring Summary

• T3: Getting a leadoff baserunner with a double to left-center, Winthrop scored the game's first run on an RBI single to right from Brody Hopkins.
• B4: Tying the game, Johnny Sweeney drove in the Spartans' first run with a single into center, driving home Noah Rabon who reached with a single through the right side before stealing his way into scoring position.
• B5: Behind a walk and back-to-back infield singles, Upstate took its first lead in the game in the fifth as Rabon drove home Grant Sherrod with a single to short, delivering a 2-1 advantage.
• T6: After a two-out walk, the Eagles tied the game with an RBI double into right-center from Joseph Szvetitz.
• B6: The Spartans answered quickly to retake the lead as Grant Sherrod followed a sac bunt from Troy Hamilton with a two-run single to left, allowing Upstate to take advantage of two of the three free bases issued in the inning.
• B8: Stepping to the plate with one out, Sherrod drove a pitch to deep left-center, hitting a solo homer to extend Upstate's lead. The Spartans followed the long ball with a pair of hits, the second an RBI single from Rabon to get another run in the frame. The final tally of the game came as Rabon scampered home on a wild pitch.

 
Notable

• Picking up his eighth multi-hit and multi-RBI games of the season, Grant Sherrod continued his torrid stretch to begin conference play as he's hitting a team-best .471 against Big South pitching this season. He's slugged three homers and driven in 10 runs through four games to start conference play.
• Reaching in Friday night's game, Sherrod and Troy Hamilton each extended their reached base streaks, improving the streaks to 13 and 11 games, respectively. The duo holds the two double-digit active reached base streaks for the Spartans.
• Striking out nine batters Friday, Reese Dutton picked up his sixth game with six or more strikeouts on the season as he's punched out 50 hitters over 43.0 innings (10.47 strikeouts per nine innings). He's twice struck out nine or more hitters, also striking out 11 hitters on March 16 versus Cincinnati.

 
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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