Mathieu Curtis vs. Charleston Southern BSC 2024
Bennett Scarborough
2
Charleston Southern CSU 22-32
4
Winner USC Upstate UPST 36-23
Charleston Southern CSU
22-32
2
Final
4
USC Upstate UPST
36-23
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Charleston Southern CSU 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 1
USC Upstate UPST 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 X 4 8 1

W: Curtis, Mathieu (5-2) L: GALlANT,Matt (4-3) S: Sullivan, Noah (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Advances to Second-Straight Big South Tournament Championship Game, Taking Pitcher's Duel Versus #4 Charleston Southern Friday Night

HIGH POINT, N.C. – In a tournament that has featured high-scoring game after high-scoring game, USC Upstate baseball opted to buck that trend Friday evening as it sought a second consecutive trip to the Big South Baseball Championship Game with the Spartans winning a 4-2 pitcher's duel against No. 4 seed Charleston Southern to advance to Saturday's Championship Game.
 
Taking the ball for Upstate, sophomore right-handed pitcher Mathieu Curtis headed a stellar pitching effort from the Spartans' staff, teaming with redshirt sophomore righty Noah Sullivan to surrender two runs while striking out 10 Buccaneers in the win. Over 6.0 innings of work, Curtis punched out seven—one off his career high—scattering four hits and an HBP as he permitted just one earned run. Sullivan, working in relief for the second straight night, allowed one hit over the final 3.0 innings, turning in three punchouts, to earn his first save of the season.
 
Backing the pitching duo, the Upstate offense battled all evening, answering Charleston Southern runs in the second and fourth before corralling momentum with the go-ahead run in the sixth and an insurance tally in the eighth.
 
After providing the winning run in Friday's win over #1 Presbyterian, freshman catcher Tyler Lang drove home the Spartans' first run of the night before redshirt senior shortstop Troy Hamilton hit a solo shot to left—both answering Charleston Southern tallies. Delivering the lead for good, redshirt senior first baseman Grant Sherrod collected an RBI for the fourth straight game via a sac fly with redshirt junior rightfielder Koby Kropf adding the insurance on a chopper to third.
 
Game Information
Score: #3 USC Upstate 4; #4 Charleston Southern 2
Records: USC Upstate (36-23; 16-8 Big South); Charleston Southern (22-32; 12-12 Big South)
Location: Truist Point | High Point, N.C.
 
How It Happened
  • T2: Coming after a leadoff single and stolen base, Charleston Southern's Gavin Bogdanchik opened the game's scoring with a ball hit back up the middle, scoring Cade Conway from second.
  • B2: Chasing Vance Sheahan's two-out double, Tyler Lang came up big again for the Spartans as he drove home Upstate's first and the tying run with a single into center.
  • T4: Taking advantage of a two-base throwing error on an errant pickoff attempt, the Buccaneers retook the lead with a sac fly to shallow center as Conway scored from third.
  • B4: Answering the run in the previous half inning, Troy Hamilton launched a solo shot to left, tying the game at two.
  • B6: Batting with runners on the corners and one out, Grant Sherrod collected an RBI for the fourth straight game as he lifted a sac fly to right, allowing Jace Rinehart to score.
  • B8: Scratching another run with runners on the corners, Koby Kropf drove home an insurance run with a chopper to third as Daniel Gernon raced home to score.
 
Notable
  • Sweeping its pair of elimination games Friday, Upstate advances to the Big South Tournament Championship Game for the second straight season. In program history, the appearances mark the lone appearances in a Conference Tournament Championship Game.
  • With Upstate's win, the Spartans are the first USC Upstate program to appear in a Conference Tournament Championship Game in consecutive seasons since joining the Big South. The occurrence is the first for an Upstate program since softball played in four consecutive ASUN Tournament Championship Games from 2015-18.
  • Combining for 10 strikeouts, Mathieu Curtis and Noah Sullivan pushed Upstate's season strikeout to past 500, landing at 504 in 2024. The total marks the first time a Spartan pitching staff has exceeded 500 strikeouts in a season and breaks the 2023 total of 497 for the program's single-season record.
  • Driving home a run, Grant Sherrod upped his season total to 78 RBI, tying Winthrop's Jacob Dempsey (2006) for the seventh-most RBI in a single season in Big South history.
 
Up Next for the Spartans
With its win, Upstate advances to the Big South Tournament Championship game Saturday afternoon, meeting No. 2 seed High Point at noon ET. In the double-elimination tournament format, Upstate must win twice to win the Big South Tournament Championship.
 
Connect with the Spartans
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics 
Twitter | @UpstateBSB | @UpstateSpartans 
Instagram | @UpstateBSB | @UpstateSpartans 
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans
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