SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Beginning its final home series of the campaign as it seeks to solidify its seeding in the impending Big South Conference Baseball Championship, USC Upstate baseball used a massive fifth inning to secure a 16-3 series-opening victory over Presbyterian Friday evening at Cleveland S. Harley Park.
 
Plating double-digit runs in an inning for the second time in 2025, Upstate erased an early deficit, building a large advantage behind a 12-run stanza as all nine members of the team's starting nine scored. The Spartans recorded 10 hits and three walks as 16 hitters made their way to the plate, leading to the team's highest-scoring inning of the season and highest-scoring inning since March 2024.
 
Five Spartans registered a team-high three hits, combining for 15 of the team's 18 hits on the night, with redshirt junior first baseman Jake Armsey, junior second baseman Gage Griggs, junior catcher Preston Lucas, redshirt sophomore centerfielder Scott Newman, and junior third baseman Devlin Smalanskas notching or tying their career-high hit total. Lucas helmed the team's offense with four RBI—all coming in the 12-run fifth inning—while Armsey and Griggs added three RBI apiece.
 
On the mound, redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Amp Phillips and junior righty Braden Consaul combined to strike out 13 Blue Hose, recording seven and six punchouts, respectively. Consaul's strikeout total marked a career-high as he surrendered three hits and four baserunners over 4.0 scoreless innings, earning his first save of the season.
 
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 16; Presbyterian 3
Records: USC Upstate (28-22; 14-5 Big South); Presbyterian (17-30; 9-13 Big South)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened

• T2: Jumping out to an early lead, Presbyterian scored thrice in the second behind an RBI double from Jackson Hugus and a two-run home run from Brody Linker.
• B2: Getting back two of the three runs surrendered in the prior half inning, Upstate tallied a pair of runs in the home half. Gage Griggs and Jake Armsey brought home the runs with a groundout and single, respectively.
• B3: Fighting back to tie the game, Scott Campbell lifted a sac fly into left, allowing Vance Sheahan to race home for the Spartans' third run.
• B5: Using 10 hits and three walks in the frame as 16 hitters stepped to the plate, Upstate scored 12 runs in the stanza as all nine starters crossed the plate at least once. Preston Lucas used a pair of hits in the frame to record all four of his RBI, a high-water mark for the lineup in the inning.
• B6: Launching a solo home run inside the leftfield foul pole, Vance Sheahan closed the day's scoring.

 
Notable

• Scoring 12 runs in the fifth inning, Upstate notched its second double-digit scoring inning of the 2025 season, joining the team's 10-run first inning against ETSU on March 28. The inning marks the highest-scoring for the Spartans since plating 13 runs in the fifth inning versus Rider on March 10, 2024.
• Reaching thrice Friday, Vance Sheahan extended his team-leading reached base streak to 37 games, the longest known streak in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.).

 
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