SPARTANBURG, S.C. – On a historic night for the city of Spartanburg as Minor League Baseball returns to downtown for the first time in 30 years, USC Upstate baseball continued its midweek series against crosstown rival Wofford at the newly constructed Fifth Third Park—home of the Hub City Spartanburgers—in the first baseball game played in the new stadium. Evening the three-game series at a game apiece, the Terriers downed the Spartans 5-3 Tuesday evening.
Beating out a slow roller down the third base line, sophomore shortstop
Vance Sheahan recorded the first hit in stadium history before adding the stadium's first stolen base shortly thereafter. Junior catcher
Preston Lucas roped a double over the head of the rightfielder, producing Upstate's first run in the new ballpark, later scoring on an RBI single from junior third baseman
Gage Griggs.
On the mound, three Spartan right-handed pitchers, junior
Juan Reyes, sophomore
Cooper Ellingworth, and junior
Braden Consaul, registered scoreless outings, combining for 4.0 scoreless innings while striking out three. Ellingworth struck out two over a pair of scoreless frames with Consaul picking up a strikeout in his lone inning of work.
Game Information
Score: Wofford 5; USC Upstate 2
Records: USC Upstate (14-14; 3-3 Big South); Wofford (21-9; 2-1 SoCon)
Location: Fifth Third Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
How It Happened
- B1: Taking advantage of a wild pitch, Wofford scratched the first run in Fifth Third Park history as David Wiley raced home. The Terriers added another as Andrew Mannelly ripped an RBI single through the right side.
- T2: Battling back immediately, the Spartans evened the contest in the following half-inning. Preston Lucas pulled a double over the head of the rightfielder to score Scott Campbell from first. Lucas later came home to score as Gage Griggs ripped a single of his own through the right side.
- B3: After loading the bases to begin the inning behind a pair of singles and a walk, the Terriers regained the advantage as Mannelly lifted a sac fly to left.
- B5: Following a two-base error on an errant pickoff attempt, Wiley dropped an RBI single into right-center to begin the stanza's scoring. Adding another RBI to his total, Mannelly pushed another sac fly to leftfield, producing the second of two Terrier runs in the inning.
Notable
- In a night of firsts, USC Upstate and Wofford became the first two teams to play in the newly constructed Fifth Third Park, home of the Hub City Spartanburgers. Henry Zenor marked the first batter to step to the plate in ballpark history while Vance Sheahan collected the first hit and first stolen base in ballpark history.
Up Next for the Spartans
Continuing its two-game split midweek, USC Upstate heads to the Queen City to face Charlotte for the first meeting between the programs since 2014. First pitch between the Spartans and 49ers is set for 6 p.m. ET.
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SAVE THE DATE FOR SPARTY'S BALL – MAY 17th – Support USC Upstate Athletics at Sparty's Ball, the largest fundraising event of the year for the Upstate Athletic Fund (UAF), to be held Saturday, May 17, 2025 at the Milliken Club at Fifth Third Park. For tickets, sponsorship and auction information,
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