SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A day after facing heartbreak in extra innings, Saturday proved an opportunity for USC Upstate baseball to flush the loss and capture a series victory, doing so by erasing a nine-run deficit en route to a come-from-behind victory, winning 18-13 over UNCG at Cleveland S. Harley Park.
 
Entering the game with one out in the top of the third with Upstate trailing 11-2, freshman left-handed pitcher Max Kaplan, making his first appearance since April 2, quelled UNCG's momentum, working out of a jam and stranding a pair of baserunners. In the innings that followed, he turned in a career-long relief outing as he held UNCG off the board for five innings, allowing for the Upstate offense to stake its comeback. Kaplan ended the day tossing 6.2 innings, striking out five while scattering six hits and two runs.
 
Feeding off Kaplan's outing, Upstate began erasing the deficit it faced in the third inning, scoring three runs in the third, four in the sixth, and one in the seventh before blowing open the game and taking the lead with eight runs in the eighth inning. Sophomore shortstop Vance Sheahan, junior first baseman Wylie Waters, and redshirt junior rightfielder Scott Campbell proved catalysts for the comeback, totaling four, four, and three RBI, respectively, on the afternoon with Waters and Campbell homering.
 
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 18; UNCG 13
Records: USC Upstate (21-19; 8-4 Big South); UNCG (18-21; 7-2 SoCon)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened

• T1: Beginning the day's scoring, UNCG's Jacob Dilley hit a two-run shot to left.
• T2: Expanding upon its lead in the second, UNCG tacked on five more tallies, seeing a three-run double from Jeremy Wolf and a solo shot from Dilley drive home four of the five. The fifth scored on a passed ball.
• B2: Getting a pair back for the Spartans, Wylie Waters slugged his 10^th homer of the season, leaving the yard down the leftfield line.
• T3: Hanging four more runs on the board, UNCG used a fielder's choice from Luke Holland and three-run double from Brantley Truitt to score its runs in the frame.
• B3: Sending nine men to the plate in the frame, Upstate scratched three behind RBI singles from Johnny Sweeney and Waters before a fielder's choice from Gage Griggs led to another tally.
• B6: Continuing to claw back, Upstate added four more runs in the sixth, cutting the UNCG lead to two. Sweeney drove home the first with a sac fly with Scott Campbell capping the inning with a three-run blast to left-center.
• B7: Splitting the gap with a double to the wall in right-center, Vance Sheahan drove home Henry Zenor, pushing the game to an 11-10 margin.
• B8: Seeing 13 Spartans come to the plate in the stanza, Upstate tallied eight in the eighth to take the lead for the first and final time. An HBP with the bases loaded drawn by Griggs tied the game at 11 before pinch hitter Preston Lucas hit one through the right side, plating two and delivering the lead. Adding insurance, Sheahan laced a three-run double and Scott Newman poked an RBI single.
• T9: Closing the day's scoring, UNCG's JJ Parsons hit a two-run home run to center.

 
Notable

• Hitting his 10^th home run of the campaign, Wylie Waters becomes the 10^th different Spartan with a double-digit homer season in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) with the 11^th such season in the era. He joins teammates Scott Newman (13) and Johnny Sweeney (12) in double-figures this season.
• Swiping his 20^th steal of the year, Vance Sheahan becomes the third Spartan in the D1 era to record 20-plus stolen bases in a season. He joins Easton Cullison (25 in 2023) and Noah Myers (21 in 2022) in the 20-plus-steal club in the D1 era.

 
Up Next for the Spartans
Coming off its final non-conference weekend series of the season, USC Upstate continues non-conference play, travelling to the Volunteer State for a pair of midweek contests. The Spartans head to Tennessee Tech for games Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET, respectively.
 
Connect with the Spartans 
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics 
Twitter | @UpstateBSB | @UpstateSpartans 
Instagram | @UpstateBSB | @UpstateSpartans 
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans
 
INVEST IN CHAMPIONS - Join the Upstate Athletic Fund (UAF) and enjoy enhanced benefits for your support of all USC Upstate programs! Make your gift today, click here!
 
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, click here!