Grant Sherrod 14th Homer vs. Gardner-Webb Gm 2 2023
Ryan Frye
11
Winner Upstate UPST 32-16, 17-4 BigSouth
6
Gardner-Webb GWU 27-19, 12-9 BigSouth
Winner
Upstate UPST
32-16, 17-4 BigSouth
11
Final
6
Gardner-Webb GWU
27-19, 12-9 BigSouth
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Upstate UPST 1 3 2 1 0 0 1 3 0 11 15 2
Gardner-Webb GWU 0 1 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 6 7 0

W: Holguin, Al (3-1) L: BERTRAM, R (1-5)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Several Program and D1 Era Records Fall as Baseball Completes Sweep of Gardner-Webb Behind 11-6 Sunday Victory

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Entering game three of its weekend series with a chance to sweep another Big South Conference series after riding its stellar pitching in games one and two, USC Upstate baseball's bats led the way Sunday, collecting a weekend-high 15 hits in an 11-6 victory to complete the sweep of Gardner-Webb.
 
Scoring early and often, Upstate jumped out front in the first with a run off a sac fly before adding three runs in the second, two in the third, and one in the fourth, scoring seven runs over the first four innings of the game. Despite seeing Gardner-Webb scoring in the second, third, and seventh and pulling within two runs, the Spartans answered with a run in the seventh and three in the eighth to extend its lead and walk away with a five-run victory.
 
Adding to the team's 15 hits, the Spartans stole a school record 10 bases as eight different players stole a base with redshirt freshman third baseman Jake Armsey and sophomore centerfielder Kyle Henington each swiping two bases apiece. With one of Upstate's 10 steals, junior second baseman Easton Cullison stole his 20th base of the season, becoming the second Spartan in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) to steal 20 bags in a season.
 
Leading to the team's hit total, five Spartans recorded multi-hit efforts led by Henington's career-high-tying three hits with three players recording multi-RBI efforts. With two runs batted in, redshirt junior first baseman Grant Sherrod registered his 56th and 57th RBIs of the season, setting the program's Division I era single-season RBI record.
 
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 11; Gardner-Webb 6
Records: USC Upstate (32-16; 17-4 Big South); Gardner-Webb (27-19; 12-9 Big South)
Location: Bill Masters Field at John Henry Moss Stadium | Boiling Springs, N.C.
 
Scoring Summary
  • T1: Leading to the Spartans' first run, Jace Rinehart lifted a sacrifice fly to rightfield, driving home Cole Caruso.
  • T2: Opening a three-run second frame, Upstate attempted another squeeze bunt with Jake Armsey driving home Henington. The second run of the inning came in as an infield fly dropped allowing David Pereira to race home to score before a double steal produced the inning's final run with Armsey stealing home.
  • B2: Scratching its first run of the game and cutting into Upstate's lead, Gardner-Webb plated a run as Humberto Torres singled up the middle.
  • T3: Greeting a new pitcher for the Runnin' Bulldogs, Rinehart launched a solo homer to right-center. The Spartans added another as Pereira singled through the left side, driving home Henington.
  • T4: Adding to the Spartans' lead, Grant Sherrod unloaded on a 1-1 offering, sending it sailing over the light standard in left-center for a solo homer.
  • B5: Digging into the Upstate lead, Gardner-Webb plated three in the fifth behind a sacrifice fly and a two-run double from Trevor Mattson down the leftfield line.
  • T7: Getting back one of Upstate's runs, Henington drove home a run as he laced a ground-rule double into the right-center gap, scoring Ty Tilson.
  • B7: Answering the run surrendered in the top half of the inning, the Runnin' Bulldogs plated two on a two-run homer from Mattson.
  • T8: Immediately answering the Gardner-Webb runs, the Spartans posted a three-spot in the eighth with Sherrod kickstarting the inning with an RBI single to left. Tilson followed later in the inning with a two-run double down the leftfield line, capping the game's scoring and leading to a five-run victory.
 
Notable
  • With Upstate's victory Sunday, the Spartans improved to 17-4 in Big South play in 2023. The team's 17 conference victories tie for the most in a single season in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.)—this does not include the 40-game conference schedule played by the Big South in 2021 in response to the Covid-19 global pandemic—equaling the totals of the 2008 (17-16) and 2022 (17-6-1) squads.
  • Hitting his 14th home run of the season and driving home two runs Sunday, Grant Sherrod added to his D1 era single-season home run record by claiming the D1 era single-season RBI record, recording his 56th and 57th of the season. With his homer Sunday, he's homered in six of his past eight games and he's driven in a run in nine of his past 10 games with 16 RBI in the stretch.
  • Stealing a program-record 10 bases Sunday against Gardner-Webb, Upstate improved its season total to 97 steals in 115 attempts with the season total marking the single-season program record for stolen bases. Stealing his 20th bag of the season, Easton Cullison becomes the second Spartan with 20 or more steals in the program's Division I era, joining Noah Myers who stole 21 bases in 2022.
 
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