2024 Big South Tournament High Point vs USC Upstate
Bennett Scarborough
8
USC Upstate UPST 34-23
10
Winner High Point HPU 32-25
USC Upstate UPST
34-23
8
Final
10
High Point HPU
32-25
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
USC Upstate UPST 2 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 8 15 1
High Point HPU 3 0 3 1 0 2 1 0 X 10 10 2

W: OLSOVSKY,Dalton (3-3) L: Consaul, Braden (1-1) S: GRINTZ, Adam (2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Jace Rinehart Drives Home Four and Reaches 90 Hits on the Year, But Upstate Falls Thursday to #2 High Point in Opening Round of 2024 Big South Baseball Championship

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Beginning a new season and opening the 2024 Big South Baseball Championship, No. 3 seed USC Upstate baseball battled in a back-and-forth affair to close out day one of the league tournament, dropping a 10-8 decision against No. 2 seed High Point Thursday evening at Truist Point.
 
Seeing the lead trade five times, Thursday's game saw both sides score a combined 17 runs over the game's first six frames with both the Spartans and Panthers scoring in four different half innings, respectively, in that span. High Point, however, limited Upstate from the seventh inning on, scoring an insurance run in the home half of the seventh to escape the heavyweight bout with a two-run victory.
 
Opening the night's scoring, junior leftfielder Jace Rinehart rang a two-run, opposite-field home run off the rightfield foul pole, the first of his four RBI. He'd later add RBI behind a pair of sac flies while adding another hit, giving him 90 for the season, becoming the first Big South player since 2016 with 90-plus hits in a single season.
 
Redshirt sophomore designated hitter Noah Sullivan led the Spartans with a career-high-tying four hits, recording a hit in each of his first four trips to the plate, complementing his hit total with a pair of RBI singles. Collecting Upstate's third multi-hit game of the day, freshman third baseman Vance Sheahan registered a pair of doubles, a career-high total.
 
Game Information
Score: #2 High Point 10; #3 USC Upstate 8
Records: USC Upstate (34-23; 16-8 Big South); High Point (32-25; 17-7 Big South)
Location: Truist Point | High Point, N.C.
 
How It Happened
  • T1: Taking a 2-2 pitch to the opposite field, Jace Rinehart rang a two-run shot off the rightfield fair pole to break open the day's scoring.
  • B1: Using back-to-back hits following a leadoff walk, High Point notched its first run of the day. The Panthers, later, took the lead behind a two-run double to center from Charlie Klingler.
  • T2: Punching the first pitch of his at-bat down the rightfield line, Daniel Gernon tied the ball game as he drove home Tyler Lang who led off the inning with a double off the wall in center. Noah Sullivan followed Gernon, punching one through the right side to drive home Jake Armsey and deliver the lead. An insurance tally came home off a sac fly from Rinehart—his third RBI of the day.
  • B3: Following a leadoff walk and subsequent fielding error, the Panthers retook the lead with a three-run homer to left by Eric Grintz.
  • T4: Fighting back to regain the advantage, Upstate plated two in the fourth, seeing Sullivan drive home another run with an RBI single and Rinehart driving home another with his second sac fly.
  • B4: Tying the game, High Point tacked on another run on a sac fly from Grintz.
  • T6: Breaking the 7-7 deadlock, Upstate retook the lead as Grant Sherrod dumped an RBI single into left-center.
  • B6: Continuing the back-and-forth nature of game, High Point tilted back to the lead as Miggy Echazaretta ripped a two-run double inside the third base bag.
  • B7: Adding to its advantage, the Panthers tacked on an insurance run as Adam Stuart laced a ball back through the middle.
 
Notable
  • With his sixth-inning single, Jace Rinehart became the second Spartan to reach 90-plus hits in a season, joining Blake Green (95 hits in 2011). His 90 hits make him the first Big South Conference player since Zach Remillard (99) and G.K. Young (99) of Coastal Carolina did so during the 2016 season.
  • Collecting an RBI in the sixth inning, Grant Sherrod pushed his program-record total to 76. His single-season total ranks as the ninth-most RBI in a season by a Big South Conference player in league history and the most in a season since Jose Iglesias of Coastal Carolina drove home 80 in 2010.
  • Scoring his 65th run, Daniel Gernon tied Lindsay Robinson (1988) for the third-most runs scored in a single season in program history. He trails just Russ Pearson (72 in 1988) and Chris Sturgill (70 in 1988) for the program single-season record.
 
Up Next for the Spartans
In the double-elimination format of the Big South Baseball Championship, Upstate returns to action Friday at 11 a.m. ET. The Spartans face No. 1 seed Presbyterian Friday in an elimination game.
 
Connect with the Spartans
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics 
Twitter | @UpstateBSB | @UpstateSpartans 
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