Baseball's Road Swing Continues with First Road Trip of Big South Play, Facing Longwood in a Weekend Set

Friday, March 20

Farmville, Va.

6:00 p.m.

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

Longwood

Henry Zenor 2nd AB vs. Charlotte 2026 - EH

Photo by: Emma Hudson

3/19/2026 1:44:00 PM | Baseball

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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Continuing its five-game stretch of contests away from the Hub City, USC Upstate baseball, for the first time in Big South Conference play, faces a three-game road set, trekking to the Old Dominion to face off against Longwood. In a series that began with a midweek contest in 2017, the Spartans and Lancers have met every season since 2018 as league foes with Upstate owning a 19-3 advantage in the series.

Weekend Series
March 20-22, 2026 | 6:00 p.m. / 3:00 p.m. / 1:00 p.m. ET
USC Upstate (11-11; 2-1 Big South) vs. Longwood (15-6; 1-2 Big South)
Buddy Bolding Stadium | Farmville, Va.

TV: ESPN+ | Via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN App
Radio: Fox Sports Spartanburg 98.3 FM/1400 AM | Also available via the Fox Sports Spartanburg or TuneIn App

How They Stack Up
Records: USC Upstate (11-11; 2-1 Big South); Longwood (15-6; 1-2 Big South)
Series: USC Upstate leads 19-3
Last Five Meetings: May 4, 2025 (UPST 14; LWU 4 [8 inn.]); May 3, 2025 (UPST 22; LWU 11); May 2, 2025 (LWU 7; UPST 6); May 12, 2024 (UPST 8; LWU 5); May 11, 2025 (LWU 9; UPST 7)

Probable Starting Pitchers
USC Upstate | Longwood
Game One: LHP Chris Torres (1-2; 8.59 ERA) | To Be Announced
Game Two: RHP Brent Stukes (3-1; 6.85 ERA) | To Be Announced
Game Three: To Be Announced | To Be Announced

Players to Watch
USC Upstate
Pitcher: Tossing a clean ninth inning and inducing a team-high-tying third double play to end the game, redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Jacob Kirby earned his second save of the season Wednesday night at Charlotte. The outing marked his sixth scoreless appearance this season, lowering his ERA to 2.18, the best among the Spartans' primary relief corps. Over 20.2 innings this year, Kirby limits opponents to a .188 batting average and notches 12 strikeouts.

Position Player: Heading the Spartans at the plate in Wednesday's win at Charlotte, redshirt sophomore shortstop Maloy Heaghney collected a career-high six RBI, the most single-game RBI by a Spartan this season. Tied for the conference lead in the category entering the weekend, he's registered 24 RBI this campaign, leading Upstate with five multi-RBI contests, all featuring three-plus RBI. Heaghney enters the weekend series sporting a .311/.404/.522 three-slash line, pacing the Spartans with 12 extra-base hits.

Longwood
Pitcher: Recording a save in four of his nine appearances for the Lancers this season, senior right-handed pitcher JR Fordham leads the Big South in the category. Working 10.2 innings out of the pen, he's permitted just three hits and no runs, entering the weekend with a 0.00 ERA and .086 opponent's batting average. Fordham also tallies 15 strikeouts against just four walks this season.

Position Player: One of two Lancers to start all 21 games this season, freshman outfielder Ben Pulliam posts a .355/.479/.579 three-slash line with 27 hits and 18 RBI on the year. He's tied for the team lead with 12 extra-base hits this season as nine of his 12 extra-base hits are doubles, tying him for the Big South lead in the category. Pulliam also tallies nine steals in 12 attempts, tying for second on the club in the category.

Up Next for the Spartans
Wrapping its five-game road swing, USC Upstate travels to the Volunteer State next Tuesday for a midweek meeting with Tennessee. The Spartans and Volunteers meet for a 6 p.m. ET first pitch.

Connect with the Spartans
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics
Twitter | @UpstateBSB | @UpstateSpartans
Instagram | @UpstateBSB | @UpstateSpartans
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans

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