Cole Caruso & Chase Matheny GS Celebration vs. Campbell Gm 1 2023
Tashaun Wallace
4
Campbell CAM 40-12, 21-4 BSC
9
Winner USC Upstate UPST 35-19, 20-5 BSC
Campbell CAM
40-12, 21-4 BSC
4
Final
9
USC Upstate UPST
35-19, 20-5 BSC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Campbell CAM 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 4 9 2
USC Upstate UPST 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 8 X 9 7 0

W: Consaul, Braden (1-1) L: CUMMINGS, Ty (5-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

In a Prize Fight for a Big South Championship, Baseball Lands the First Blow Using an Eight-Run Eighth Inning to Down No. 9 Campbell

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Fighting for a chance to win a Big South regular season championship, USC Upstate baseball battled back from a three-run deficit as it came out swinging in the eighth inning, landing the knockout blow in the first round of a prize fight with an eight-run inning, taking game one of its series with No. 9 Campbell 9-4 Thursday night at Cleveland S. Harley Park.
 
Landing the first punch, Campbell struck first plating a run on three hits in the first inning before Upstate fought back to tie the game on a wild pitch in the third. The Camels landed the next two blows with a pair of home runs in the fifth and seventh innings, taking a 4-1 lead into the eighth inning. Coming on in relief in the eighth, freshman right-hander Braden Consual retired the side in order on just seven pitches, setting up the Spartans' offense to strike in the home half of the inning.
 
Following a leadoff walk, redshirt junior first baseman Grant Sherrod crushed a 1-0 fastball with it landing on the camera deck to the left of the batter's eye, pulling Upstate within one with his 15th homer of the year, a two-run shot. Continuing to battle, the Spartans loaded the bases again as redshirt junior leftfielder Daniel Gernon put together the at-bat of the night, seeing 10 pitches while fouling off four with two strikes to earn a walk before redshirt junior catcher David Pereira lined a sac fly to left, tying the game at four apiece.
 
With geese on the pond again after a four-pitch walk to redshirt senior third baseman Braxton Boddorf, sophomore shortstop Cole Caruso stepped to the plate and laced an 0-1 fastball past the leftfield foul pole as his first career grand slam delivered Upstate the lead. However, the Spartans weren't done in the inning, adding another run of insurance with an RBI single from Sherrod, his third RBI of the inning, making it 9-4 before redshirt sophomore righty Jake Cubbler ended things with a one, two, three ninth.
 
Scoring Summary
Score: USC Upstate 9; No. 9 Campbell 4
Records: USC Upstate (35-19; 20-5 Big South); Campbell (40-12; 21-4 Big South)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
Scoring Summary
  • B1: Part of a stretch seeing Campbell string together three straight hits, Jarrod Belbin broke open the game's scoring, driving home Bryce Arnold, who worked his way into scoring position on a wild pitch, from second with a single to left.
  • B3: Reaching base via a one-out walk and advancing into scoring position off a Grant Sherrod single, Kyle Henington raced across the plate on a wild pitch, tying the game for Upstate.
  • T5: Breaking up the tie game, Lawson Harrill brought the Camels the lead with a two-run homer to left.
  • T7: Getting Campbell on the board again in the seventh, Harrill hit his second homer of the night, leaving the yard to left-center.
  • B8: Sending 12 men to the plate during the inning, Upstate roared back with an eight-spot—its largest-scoring inning of the year. Trailing by three entering the frame, the Spartans sat down a run within the first two batters of the inning as Sherrod mashed a two-run homer to the left of the batter's eye. Loading the bases with one out, David Pereira tied the game as he lined a sac fly to left, knotting things at four. With Braxton Boddorf walking on four pitches to reload the bases, Cole Caruso laced a line drive down the leftfield line that escaped the park as his grand slam delivered a four-run Upstate lead. Sherrod added a run of insurance and capped the game's scoring with a single to right-center.
 
Notable
  • Going 4-for-5 at the plate, hitting his 15th home run, and driving home three runs, Grant Sherrod tallied eight total bases Thursday night, giving him 128 on the season, establishing the Division I era (2007-pres.) single-season record for total bases. He now holds the D1 era records for home runs (15; tied for 5th in program history), runs batted in (61; seventh in program history), and total bases (128; fifth in program history).
  • Giving Upstate the lead, Cole Caruso hit his first career grand slam (third career home run), becoming the third Spartan to hit a grand slam this season. He joins Sherrod (twice) and Daniel Gernon with a grand slam this season while Caruso. Also of note, one of Caruso's other two homers was an inside-the-park home run.
  • Striking out nine batters against Campbell, Reese Dutton notched his third career game with nine or more strikeouts, giving him 96 punchouts on the season to lead the Big South. His 96 punchouts are the second-most in a single season in program history as he joins Jordan Marks (101 strikeouts in 2021) as the only Spartans with 90 or more strikeouts in a season.
  • As a pitching staff, Upstate combined for 14 punchouts as all five Spartans pitchers recorded at least one strikeout. The Spartans end the night with 461 strikeouts as a team in 2023, sitting just shy of the program record for strikeouts in a season by a team (468 in 2021).
 
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