A Career Day and First Career Multi-Homer Game from Tyler Lang Leads Baseball to Series-Clinching 12-7 Victory over High Point Saturday

Saturday, March 14

Spartanburg, S.C.

2:00 p.m.

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

10-10, 2-0

High Point

10-9, 0-2

High Point

USC Upstate

Photo by: Catherine Harney

3/14/2026 7:08:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Looking to set the tone in the race for the Big South Conference regular season crown in 2026, USC Upstate baseball put itself in good position, capturing its first league series of the campaign as it took down High Point 12-7 Saturday at Cleveland S. Harley Park. With the victory, the Spartans enter Sunday's series finale seeking their first weekend sweep of the season.

The long ball proved a factor in Saturday's contest as 16 of the game's 19 runs were scored via one of the game's nine home runs. Upstate was the lone squad to score without the benefit of a homer, scratching the game's other three runs off RBI singles from redshirt freshman rightfielder Trey Bentley and redshirt sophomore catcher Tyler Lang and a Panther throwing error.

Saturday proved a career day for Lang as he notched the first multi-homer game of his career while tying his career-highs with three hits and four RBI as he paced the Spartans' offense at the plate. The game marked the third of his season and sixth of his career with three hits and the third of his career with four RBI.

Redshirt sophomore shortstop Maloy Heaghney and senior catcher Preston Lucas each launched three-run homers, collecting Upstate's other two multi-RBI efforts. Joining the trio of Heaghney, Lang, and Lucas with multi-hit games were senior second baseman Gage Griggs, senior first baseman Wylie Waters, and redshirt sophomore centerfielder Henry Zenor, each with two hits apiece.

On the mound, junior right-handed pitcher Brent Stukes recorded his third win of the season, working 5.0 innings and striking out three in his start for the Spartans. Registering his first save of the season, sophomore left-hander Max Kaplan punched out three, including a pair of inning-ending strikeouts in the eighth and ninth frames.

Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 12; High Point 7
Records: USC Upstate (10-10; 2-0 Big South); High Point (10-9; 0-2 Big South)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.

How It Happened

B1: Putting Upstate out front, Maloy Heaghney launched the game's first home run, exiting the yard in left-center with a three-run shot.
B2: Adding a run for the Spartans, Tyler Lang picked up his first RBI as he dropped a single into center, scoring Gage Griggs from third.
B3: Further extending the Upstate advantage, Preston Lucas left the year with a towering opposite-field blast, his three-run homer making it 7-0 in favor of the home team.
T4: High Point reclaimed a pair of its surrendered runs behind solo homers from Landen Johnson and Seojun Oh in the frame.
B4: Answering the Panthers, Lang laced the first of his two homers, this one a solo shot to left.
T5: Continuing the streak of half-innings with a long ball, Jack Clark launched a two-run shot for the Panthers.
B6: Recording the final two of his four RBI, Lang slugged his second homer, a two-run shot to left in the sixth.
T7: Leading off the inning, Jace Kohler planted a solo shot off the scoreboard in left-center.
T8: Hitting his second homer of the day, Oh plated two with a two-run shot to right-center.
B8: Tacking on a pair of insurance runs, Upstate scored twice in its final at-bat. Trey Bentley drove home the first, ripping a single through the left side before a throwing error from the Panther leftfielder led to the day's final tally.

Notable

Slugging a pair of homers Saturday, Tyler Lang is the first Spartan with a multi-homer game this season, coming one year to the date of the first of Upstate's seven individual multi-homer games last season. Lang is the first Upstate player with a multi-homer game since Vance Sheahan's three-homer afternoon—a program record—against UNC Asheville on May 17, 2025.
Recording the save for the Spartans, Max Kaplan becomes the sixth different Upstate pitcher to notch a save this season. He is the first of the six to not record his first career save with his first save of the 2026 campaign.

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