Grant Sherrod HR Celebration vs. High Point Gm 2 2024
Emma Hudson
19
Winner High Point HPU 25-22, 12-4 BSC
11
USC Upstate UPST 29-17, 13-6 BSC
Winner
High Point HPU
25-22, 12-4 BSC
19
Final
11
USC Upstate UPST
29-17, 13-6 BSC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
High Point HPU 0 0 4 1 0 6 0 5 3 19 19 0
USC Upstate UPST 1 0 0 2 3 5 0 0 0 11 14 2

W: GRINTZ, Adam (1-0) L: Hodgdon, Trent (1-2)

3
High Point HPU 25-23, 12-5 BSC
6
Winner USC Upstate UPST 30-17, 14-6 BSC
High Point HPU
25-23, 12-5 BSC
3
Final
6
USC Upstate UPST
30-17, 14-6 BSC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
High Point HPU 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 4
USC Upstate UPST 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 X 6 7 0

W: Kuskie, Darin (1-3) L: CARTER, Noah (1-2) S: Jefferis, Jagger (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Grant Sherrod's Go-Ahead Seventh Inning Homer Delivers Doubleheader Split Friday Against High Point

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Facing the team's third doubleheader of the season as Mother Nature's impact necessitated a change to the weekend's slate, USC Upstate baseball split its latest twin billing, dropping game one before fighting back to take game two and set up a rubber match Sunday against High Point at Cleveland S. Harley Park.
 
Seeing a combined 30 runs and 33 hits, the opening game of Friday's twin bill marked the highest-scoring game played by the Spartans this season as the teams combined for 14 home runs in the contest. Continuing his torrid pace, redshirt junior rightfielder Koby Kropf hit one of Upstate's five home runs in game one, homering for the fifth straight game with his 18th of the season. Redshirt sophomore designated hitter Noah Sullivan, junior leftfielder Jace Rinehart, redshirt senior first baseman Grant Sherrod, and freshman third baseman Vance Sheahan hit the Spartans' four other long balls with Sheahan's the first of his Upstate career.
 
In game two, senior left-hander Henry Proger tossed his team-leading fifth quality start as he scattered two runs over 6.2 innings of work, striking out five. Out of the bullpen, freshman right-hander Darin Kuskie earned his first career win behind a scoreless 1.1 innings while senior lefty Jagger Jefferis earned the first save of his Upstate career, inheriting the bases loaded, inducing a double play ahead of a punchout to end the game with a clean frame.
 
Game One
Score: High Point 19; USC Upstate 11
Records: USC Upstate (29-17; 13-6 Big South); High Point (25-22; 12-4 Big South)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened
  • B1: Opening the high-scoring affair, Jace Rinehart slugged his 13th home of the season behind a solo shot to centerfield, escaping the yard just to the right of batter's eye.
  • T3: Taking the lead for the first time, High Point plated four in the third behind a pair of two-run home runs, coming from Cael Chatham and Adam Stuart.
  • T4: Adding an insurance run, the Panthers' third homer of the game, a solo shot from Konni Durschlag, plated the lone tally of the road half of the inning.
  • B4: Cutting into the High Point lead, Upstate plated a pair of runs in the home half of the fourth, the first coming off a solo shot from Grant Sherrod. The Spartans' second tally came behind a pair of gap-splitting doubles as Daniel Gernon plated Koby Kropf with a double to left-center.
  • B5: Battling back to tie the game and regain the lead, Upstate put up three runs in the fifth. A two-run shot to right-center from Noah Sullivan knotted the game at five before a single through the left side from Troy Hamilton delivered Upstate the lead.
  • T6: Regaining the advantage, High Point slugged three homers in the sixth, a grand slam from Durschlag and solo shots from Chatham and Peyton Carr.
  • B6: Fighting back to equal the contest in consecutive innings, the Spartans scored five runs in the inning. The first two tallies came behind Vance Sheahan's first career homer, a two-run shot to left-center. Upstate scratched another behind an RBI double from Sherrod before Kropf's two-run blast to left tied the game at 11.
  • T8: Retaking the lead for the final time, High Point scored five tallies in the eighth, doing so behind a two-run homer from Carr, two RBI singles, and a RBI fielder's choice.
  • T9: Adding a pair of insurance tallies, the Panthers hit another two homers, seeing long balls from Carr and Charlie Klingler.
 
Game Two
Score: USC Upstate 6; High Point 3
Records: USC Upstate (30-17; 14-6 Big South); High Point (25-23; 12-5 Big South)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened
  • T1: Opening the back half of the twin bill, High Point slugged two additional home runs as Carr and Stuart homered.
  • B5: Following a double into the rightfield corner from Jake Armsey, Rinehart singled back through the middle for the Spartans' opening tally.
  • B6: Employing a double steal, Hamilton and Sheahan swiped third and second, respectively, before a throwing error attempting to catch Hamilton off third following a throw to second, allowed the run tying run to score.
  • B7: Breaking the deadlock, Sherrod homered for the second time in the doubleheader with a solo shot to left-center.
  • B8: Taking advantage of another Panther miscue, Upstate added a pair of insurance runs behind an errant throw to first before Noah Sullivan drove in a third run with a single to left.
  • T9: High Point scored its final tally as a run came home on a double play with the bases loaded.
 
Notable
  • Reaching 30 wins in 2024 with a victory in game two, Upstate has won 30 or more games in four consecutive seasons, accomplishing the feat for the first time in program history. The Spartans broke a tie with a pair of stretches (1986-88 and 2005-07) for the longest streak of 30-plus win seasons.
  • Homering in game one of the twin bill, Koby Kropf slugged his 18th long ball of the season while homering for the fifth straight contest, the longest stretch by a Spartan in 2024. With his 18 homers, Kropf ties Lindsay Robinson's 1988 season for the second most home runs in a single season in program history.
  • Surpassing 60 RBI on the season following the doubleheader Friday, Grant Sherrod (62) and Koby Kropf (61) become the first set of Spartan teammates in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) to drive home 60-plus runs in the same season. Reaching 60-plus RBI for the second consecutive season, Sherrod is the first player in program history to fashion multiple 60-plus RBI seasons.
 
Tickets on Sale for Sparty's Ball – Saturday, May 18
Support USC Upstate Athletics at Sparty's Ball, the largest fundraiser of the year for the Upstate Athletic Fund. The UAF impacts current and future generations of Spartans, developing champions on the field, building scholars in the classroom, and preparing leaders for life. Presented by the Sports Medicine Institute, a division of Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, Sparty's Ball features live and silent auction items, delicious food from Cribbs Catering, beverages, and live entertainment from Under the Sun, and held at a new location, Indigo Hall in downtown Spartanburg. Come dressed in your Spartan best—cocktail attire is required. For details and tickets, log onto www.upstatespartans.com/spartysball.

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