SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Facing the Catamounts for the second straight midweek to finish a two-game midweek series in the season's early going, USC Upstate baseball evened the series, avenging an earlier season loss, as it outlasted Western Carolina on a very offensive day at Cleveland S. Harley Park, coming away with a 16-10 victory Wednesday evening.
 
Seeing all nine members of the starting lineup pick up a hit and eight members an RBI, Upstate put forth a season-high 18 hits and 16 runs. Helping apply pressure on the base paths, the Spartans tied their season-best for stolen bases, swiping five bags from the Catamounts. Upstate also extended its streak of games to open the season with a home run, hitting at least one long ball in seven straight contests, the longest streak since homering in nine straight games from April 26-May 10, 2024.
 
Heading the Spartan effort at the plate, junior rightfielder Wylie Waters and junior leftfielder Cayden Wotipka each collected a career-best four RBI, both individual single-game highwater marks for the offense this season. Waters picked up his RBI in three straight plate appearances from the first to third innings while Wotipka drove home his four behind a three-run homer and bases-loaded walk. Junior catcher Preston Lucas registered the team's other multi-RBI game, driving home two with a single to left with the bases loaded in the fifth.
 
In his first career appearance in a Spartan uniform, senior right-hander Kyle Beaty picked up the win, tossing a career-long 3.1 innings, coming on in the third and working Upstate out of a jam before posting a pair of zeros to the scoreboard in the fourth and fifth innings.
 
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 16; Western Carolina 10
Records: USC Upstate (4-3; 0-0 Big South); Western Carolina (3-5; 0-0 SoCon)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened

• T1: Opening the high-scoring midweek affair, Western Carolina struck first as Cole Jones slugged a two-run homer to right-center.
• B1: Getting its runs back and then some, Upstate plated three in the home half of the first, the two tying runs coming in consecutive at-bats. Wylie Waters began the Spartans' scoring with an RBI single to right before scoring on a double into the rightfield corner from Johnny Sweeney. Sweeney came home on a groundout to short from Jake Armsey, delivering Upstate its first lead.
• T2: Leading off the new frame, Trey Spees tied the ballgame with a solo homer to right.
• B2: Again, doing the Catamounts one better, the Spartan tacked two additional runs to the scoreboard in the second. Vance Sheahan drove home the first with a single into center before a groundout from Waters produced the second run of the stanza.
• T3: Seeing each of the first three hitters to the plate reach, Western Carolina's first run scored via balk. Later in the frame, a two-run single up the middle from Trent Turner put the Catamounts back in front.
• B3: Batting around for the first time in the 2025 season, Upstate sent 10 men to the plate in the third, plating six runs. A three-run homer to right-center from Cayden Wotipka began the scoring followed by a Catamount fielding error and two-run double from Waters securing the final three tallies.
• B4: After holding the Catamounts off the board in the prior half inning, Upstate tacked on two more in the home half of the fourth. A sac fly from Alex Ritzer produced the first tally before Scott Newman drove home the next with a single through the left side.
• B5: Coming after another Western Carolina zero on the scoreboard, the Spartans plated another three in the fifth. A walk to Wotipka with the bases loaded pushed across the first before Preston Lucas drove in two more with a single down the third base line.
• T6: Using back-to-back sac flies to center, Western Carolina got back a pair of runs in the sixth with Mason Holton and Hayden Friese picking up RBI.
• T7: Jones second homer of the day, a solo shot to left, added another Catamount tally.
• T9: Closing the day's scoring, a wild pitch led to Western Carolina's final run.

 
Notable

• Leading to its season-high 16 runs and 18 hits versus Western Carolina, all nine members of the staring lineup record a hit, including seven hitters registering a multi-hit game. Eight members of the staring lineup collected an RBI against the Catamounts.
• Getting a three-run home run from Cayden Wotipka in the third inning, Upstate extended its streak of games with a home run to seven, hitting at least one homer in all seven games this season. The Spartans' streak is their longest since homering in nine straight contests from April 26 to May 10, 2024.
• In Wednesday's game, Kyle Beaty made his USC Upstate debuts, becoming the 18^th different Spartan to debut during the 2025 season.

 
Up Next for the Spartans
Closing the team's seven-game homestand, USC Upstate heads back to Cleveland S. Harley Park this weekend, hosting UMass Lowell for a three-game set. The series begins Friday at 3 p.m. ET, continuing Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).
 
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