Jake Armsey’s path to USC Upstate was never supposed to look like this. A kid from Akron, Ohio, with Division I dreams, he had done everything right. The showcases. The stats. The visits. The early commitment. Then, in the middle of a global pandemic, the ground disappeared beneath him.

Originally committed to Bowling Green, Armsey watched the program shut down during COVID, leaving him without a school, a season, or a clear next step. For most players, that moment would have ended the story. Instead, it redirected it.

“I kind of put myself back out there and reached back out to a few schools including Upstate,” Armsey said. “They brought me down, but because of COVID rules, I basically had to tour the campus myself.”

So Armsey and his mom loaded up the car and drove south. No crowds. No official visits. No normal activities for a much-needed recruit. Just a self-guided tour of a campus he had barely heard of and a program that was still finding its footing at the time; their last full season, which ended with a winning record, was in 2012.

“At first it was definitely different,” he said. “Coming from Ohio, you’re used to big campuses, big cities, people everywhere. You get here and it’s quiet. But once I talked to the coaches and saw how important baseball was here, that’s what mattered to me.”

Five years later, that quiet campus in South Carolina has become home.

Armsey enters his final season as a redshirt senior and one of the most reliable players in the USC Upstate lineup. In 2025, he started all 45 games for the Big South Champions, hitting .285 with nine doubles as the Spartans advanced to the NCAA Clemson Regional. It marked the first NCAA Tournament appearance in the program’s Division I history.

“That’s something you dream about as a little kid,” Armsey said. “Most players never get to experience that. To be the first team at Upstate to do it, and to be part of putting this program on the map, that’s something I’ll remember forever.”

Armsey’s success did not come quickly. He redshirted as a freshman, arriving on a roster crowded with older players who had gained extra eligibility from COVID. At 18, he was competing against 24 and 25-year-olds just trying to survive practice.

“You don’t really have much of a chance in that situation,” he said. “It was about putting my head down and working. The older guys showed me how to do things the right way.”

Each season brought incremental growth. More trust. More opportunities. More responsibility. By the time he became an everyday player, the coaching staff knew exactly what they were getting.

“They want guys they can trust for a 56-game season,” Armsey said. “I think I showed them I could be that guy day in and day out.”

That trust mattered even more when USC Upstate went through a coaching change in 2024, with Kane Sweeney elevated to head coach. For Armsey, it barely registered as a disruption.

“Coach Sweeney was already our hitting coach,” he said. “We knew what the expectations were. Nothing really changed from a player’s perspective.”

In an era dominated by the transfer portal, Armsey never seriously considered leaving. Stability mattered. Relationships mattered. Earning things mattered.

“The grass isn’t always greener,” he said. “No matter where you go, you still have to earn it. I love it here. I love Coach Sweeney. It made staying an easy decision.”

Off the field, Armsey is on track to graduate in December with a degree in business management, finishing his academic work while preparing for his final season. After baseball, his future could take several paths. Coaching. Law enforcement. Or maybe something a little less expected.

There is a running joke around the program that Armsey might one day trade his bat for an umpire’s mask. The rumor is true.

“One day I asked Coach Sweeney if I could umpire live at bats,” Armsey said. “I got back there and had a lot of fun. It gives you a totally different perspective.”

He has already umpired games, asked college umpires for advice and even received contact information from umpires who saw his interest. It is not about authority or power for Armsey.

“I’m not going to be one of those guys with a quick trigger,” he said. “It’s not worth it. I just want to stay around the game I love. Plus, I hope to be an umpire that buils the game.”

That mindset reflects who Armsey has become as a leader. Heading into his final season, he understands the responsibility that comes with experience.

“It’s my job to show the new guys how it’s done,” he said. “Every day matters. Every practice matters. All 56 games matter.”

The goal is simple.

“Make it back to another regional,” Armsey said. “That experience was unbelievable. I’d love to do it again. I want to keep building Upstate as a baseball hub.”

From a self-guided campus tour to the biggest stage in college baseball, Jake Armsey’s journey has been anything but ordinary. What never changed was his willingness to work, to wait and to believe that if he stayed the course, the game would eventually give something back.

It did for Armsey.