SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Heading into Saturday with a chance to win a series, the Spartans' pitching staff followed up on its strong effort in game one of their series with a stronger effort in game two as USC Upstate baseball captured an 11-1 victory against Radford behind a combined two-hitter at Cleveland S. Harley Park.
For the second time this season, junior left-hander
Henry Proger carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning or later as he didn't surrender his first hit until the first batter he faced in the seventh frame. He pitched 7.0 innings on the afternoon, striking out a career-high nine hitters while surrendering just five baserunners and one unearned run. Out of the bullpen, freshman right-hander
Braden Consaul and sophomore righty
Trent Hodgdon combined to throw two hitless frames striking out three of the six batters the pair faced.
Backing the stellar pitching effort, the bottom third of the Upstate order combined to pick up eight of the team's 12 hits—going 8-for-11—as redshirt junior rightfielder
Daniel Gernon, junior second baseman
Easton Cullison, and redshirt junior catcher
David Pereira each picked up a multi-hit effort while driving in six combined runs. Off the bench, sophomore catcher
Jace Rinehart added two hits in as many trips to the plate, combining with the aforementioned trio to total 10 hits on the day.
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 11; Radford 1
Records: USC Upstate (25-15; 11-3 Big South); Radford (8-32; 0-14 Big South)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
Scoring Summary
- B1: Seeing each of the first two hitters in the team's lineup reach with a walk, Upstate employed a double steal that lead to the game's first run as a throwing error from the catcher allowed Kyle Henington to race home and score. A second run came across as Cole Caruso scored on a sac fly off the bat of Grant Sherrod.
- B2: Using back-to-back hits from Easton Cullison and David Pereira, the Spartans added two additional runs in the second. Cullison drove home his run with a double down the rightfield line while Pereira singled back through the middle.
- B3: Driving home the first of two more runs scored by the Spartans in the third, Cullison drove home his second run with a single off a squeeze bunt as Johnny Sweeney scored. Cullison also sacrifice himself for the inning's second run as he got himself caught in a run down with runners at first and third, allowing Daniel Gernon to cross the plate and score ahead of the final out.
- B5: Going the other way and hitting the ball into the four-hole against a shift, Gernon drove in a run as Sherrod scored from second.
- B6: Tacking on an additional run to the lead, Troy Hamilton drove home a run with a sacrifice fly to center, the Spartans' second sac fly of the day.
- T7: Plating their lone run, the Highlanders took advantage of a wild pitch and passed ball to score and bust up the shutout.
- B7: Getting back the surrendered run, Upstate used a third sac fly, this time from Cullison, to score the inning's first tally. Following up the sac fly, Periera drove in another run with a single into right.
- B8: Pushing across the final run of the game, Sherrod came home to score on a wild pitch.
Notable
- Not allowing a hit for the first six of his seven innings of work, Henry Proger carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning or beyond for the second time this season. He carried a perfect game and no-hitter through 5.2 innings in his first career start in an Upstate uniform on Feb. 19 against Towson.
- Adding five steals in Saturday's game against Radford, the Spartans have stolen 11 bases through two games in the series after swiping six Friday. The team's 11 steals this weekend are the most for the Spartans in a three-game weekend, besting the 10 steals Upstate picked up during the Cincinnati and Princeton weekend.
- Leading to three of the team's 11 runs, Upstate totaled three sacrifice flies Saturday, recording three sac flies in a game for the third time this season. The Spartans entered the weekend series ranked sixth in the NCAA in sacrifice flies with 26 and now sit with 30 sac flies on the year.
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