SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Following the formula that delivered a pair of victories to open the OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic, USC Upstate baseball saw its offense deliver double-digit runs—surpassing the 20-run barrier for the first time this season—to back a solid pitching performance as Upstate finished a perfect weekend with a 21-5 win Sunday at Cleveland S. Harley Park.
 
Making history, junior leftfielder Jace Rinehart led the Upstate offense, becoming the first player in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) to pair a five-hit game with a multi-home run effort as he finished the day, going 5-for-6 with two doubles, two homers, five RBI, and four runs scored. Finishing a triple shy of the cycle, he collected 13 total bases, a program record, becoming the first player to record 11 or more total bases in a single game.
 
Slugging six long balls Sunday, the Spartans tied the program's D1-era record for home runs in a single game, doing so for the second time in the era after setting the mark on April 20, 2022, at Gardner-Webb. Rinehart clubbed two of the six home runs with redshirt sophomore second baseman Jake Armsey, redshirt senior shortstop Troy Hamilton, redshirt junior rightfielder Koby Kropf, and redshirt senior catcher David Pereira all homering.
 
On the mound, four Spartan pitchers combined to strike out 13 total Hawks Sunday, as all four pitchers recorded multiple strikeouts. Coming on in relief, freshman right-hander Cooper Ellingworth punched out a career-best four batters as he earned his first career win while junior righty Michael Kilker struck out the side in his USC Upstate debut.
 
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 21; Saint Joseph's 5
Records: USC Upstate (4-3; 0-0 Big South); Saint Joseph's (2-2; 0-0 A-10)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened

• B1: Loading the bases with two outs, Upstate took advantage of the third free base of the inning as a walk to Koby Kropf plated the first run.
• T2: Saint Joseph's got its run back in the next half-inning behind a pair of doubles, the second from Max Hitman to tie the game.
• B2: Earning their run back and then some, the Spartans hung six runs on the board in the second inning for the second straight game. A sac fly from Grant Sherrod drove in the first run of the frame, preceding a three-run homer from Jace Rinehart to push the inning's total of tallies to four. The fifth and sixth runs crossed as Vance Sheahan grabbed his first career multi-RBI game, driving home two with a single into the six-hole.
• T3: Getting one of the surrendered runs back, the Hawks added a second tally on a solo home run from Ryan Weingartner.
• B4: Not stopping with the six-spot in the second inning, Upstate fashioned its highest-scoring inning of the year with nine runs in the fourth. The biggest hits of the inning came as Koby Kropf and David Pereira went back-to-back with a three-run and solo homer to kickstart the inning's scoring.
• B6: The Spartans added two more runs in the inning as two of the team's freshmen picked up RBI in the inning. With his first career hit, Tyler Lang earned his first career RBI while Sheahan added another run batted in with a sac fly.
• T7: Adding another run in their column, the Hawks took advantage of a passed ball for their third run.
• B7: Hitting his second homer of the day, Jace Rinehart drove home two more as he left the yard to right.
• T8: Saint Joseph's answered Rinehart's two-run homer with one of their own as Justin Igoe hit a two-run shot to right.
• B8: Closing the game's scoring and capping the Spartans' six-homer game, Jake Armsey hit his first career homer with a solo shot to straightaway center.

Notable

• With his five-hit and multi-homer game Sunday, Jace Rinehart is the first player in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) to secure both milestones in the same game. His five-hit game is the first of his career and the 15^th in the era while his multi-homer game is the third of his career—the most by a Spartan in the era—and the 12^th in the era.
• Hitting six home runs, Upstate tied the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) record for homers in a single game. Sunday's game ties the six home runs the Spartans hit at Gardner-Webb on April 20, 2022, a game that also featured five Spartans homering with one registering a multi-homer game.
• Striking out 13 hitters against Saint Joseph's, Upstate has struck out 10 or more batters in four straight games for the first time since doing so from March 12-15, 2022, against Northern Kentucky (two games), Cincinnati, and Georgia.
• Securing three hits Sunday, Vance Sheahan improved his hitting streak to seven games to begin his collegiate career. His seven-game hitting streak is the longest by a Spartan freshman to begin his collegiate career since at least 2011 (research is ongoing; individual game-by-games not available prior to 2011).
• Troy Hamilton and Rinehart upped their reached base streaks to 14 games each versus the Hawks, the longest active streaks by a Spartan, while Grant Sherrod pushed his to 12 games for the third active reached base streak greater than 10 games. Rinehart pushed his hitting streak to 12 games, also the longest active streak by a Spartan.

 
Up Next for the Spartans
Coming off the OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic, the Spartans hit the road for the first time during the 2024 campaign as it heads to Clemson Tuesday. The meeting marks the first of three total midweek meetings between Upstate and the Tigers, one of two to be played at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, with first pitch set for 4 p.m. ET.
 
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