Johnny Sweeney's Go-Ahead Ninth-Inning Grand Slam Leads Baseball to Knock High Point from the Ranks of the Conference Unbeaten with 10-6 Series-Opening Win

Friday, April 4

High Point, N.C.

6:00 p.m.

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

15-15, 4-3

High Point

20-10, 6-1

Upstate Spartans

High Point

Johnny Sweeney 2nd AB vs. Charlotte 2025

Photo by: Emma Hudson

4/4/2025 11:06:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Opening a three-game series pitting the two programs selected atop the Big South Conference preseason poll, USC Upstate baseball took the series opener Friday evening, capturing the team's first win when trailing in the seventh inning or later with a 10-6 comeback victory over High Point. The win snapped an 0-13 mark when trailing in the seventh inning or later in 2025 and secured the Spartans' seventh straight win inside Williard Stadium.

Leading the comeback, senior designated hitter Johnny Sweeney notched his second career multi-homer game, his second long ball a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning. The grand slam capped a six-RBI day—one RBI shy of his career-high—his third contest with three or more RBI in a conference game. Finishing 4-of-5 at the plate, Sweeney tied his career high with four hits.

Collecting the Spartans' other multi-hit and multi-RBI effort, junior first baseman Wylie Waters ended the night 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, slugging a solo homer in the fifth. Redshirt junior second baseman Jake Armsey and junior catcher Preston Lucas also picked up RBI for the Spartans while junior third baseman Gage Griggs recorded Upstate's final extra-base hit, a double.

Shutting the door on the Upstate victory, redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Max Bianchini tossed a pair of perfect innings, striking out three, including the first two batters he faced in the ninth.

Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 10; High Point 6
Records: USC Upstate (15-15; 4-3 Big South); High Point (20-10; 6-1 Big South)
Location: Williard Stadium | High Point, N.C.

How It Happened

T2: Unloading on a 1-1 changeup, Johnny Sweeney smoked a 115 MPH laser over the wall in right, his 10^th home run of the season.
T5: On the first pitch of the fifth stanza, Wylie Waters deposited said pitch over the fence in left for his sixth long ball of the year.
B5: Answering the Spartans' two homers, High Point's Christian Smith shot a two-run homer the other way, leaving the yard in left-center to tie the game.
T6: Adding his second RBI of the evening, Sweeney poked one back through the box, going between the pitcher's legs and off the pitcher's plate, shooting the ball into center, allowing Henry Zenor to come home and score.
T7: Hanging an insurance run on the board for the Spartans, Jake Armsey shot an RBI single into the right-center gap as Wylie Waters scored from third.
B7: Fighting back to take the lead, High Point plated four in the seventh with a double snuck inside the leftfield line from Miggy Echazaretta giving the Panthers the advantage.
T8: Battling back to tie the game once more, Upstate plated a pair in the eighth. Wylie Waters went back through the middle with the bases loaded to drive home the first before a High Point fielding error led to the second—Preston Lucas picked up the RBI.
T9: Stepping to the plate with the bases loaded, Sweeney proved the hero for the Spartans as he launched his second homer of the night with his go-ahead grand slam landing on the party deck beyond the wall in right-center.

Notable

Slugging a pair of home runs Friday evening, Johnny Sweeney becomes the seventh Spartan in the Division I era (2007-pres.) to register multiple multi-homer games in a career. He joins Charlie Carpenter (two), Koby Kropf (two), Scott Newman (two), Jace Rinehart (four), Grant Sherrod (two), and Noah Sullivan (five) as the Spartans with two or more multi-home run efforts in a career in the D1 era.
Reaching 11 homers on the season following his two-homer game Friday, Sweeney secured the 10^th double-digit home run season in the Spartans' Division I era (2007-pres.). He's the ninth different Spartan in the era with a double-digit homer season.
Sweeney's ninth-inning grand slam marks Upstate's fourth grand slam of the season, tying the Division I era (2007-pres.) record for grand slams in a season. The Spartans last slugged four grand slams in a single season in 2023.
Laying down three sacrifice bunts Friday, Upstate's total marks the most for the program in a single game since April 14, 2023, versus UNC Asheville.

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