Saturday, March 7
Austin, Texas
3:00 p.m.
University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
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USC Upstate
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Photo by: Emma Hudson
Baseball Offers Furious Six-Run, Ninth-Inning Rally, Falling Just Short of No. 3 Texas in 11-9 Saturday Decision
3/7/2026 11:20:00 PM | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas – Battling Mother Nature for the second straight weekend, USC Upstate baseball didn't let a delayed first pitch or mid-game weather delay deter it, offering a ninth-inning rally in the second game of its weekend series with No. 3 Texas. The Spartans scored six runs in the ninth—alone the most runs allowed in a single game this season by Longhorn pitching—drawing closer in an 11-9 setback Saturday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
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At the plate, Upstate registered 14 hits, the most against Texas pitching this season, outhitting the Longhorns, the first time they've been outhit since last May. Tying his career-high, senior first baseman Wylie Waters collected three hits, one of four multi-hit efforts by a Spartan.
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Redshirt senior third baseman Jake Armsey, redshirt sophomore catcher Tyler Lang, and redshirt sophomore centerfielder Henry Zenor joined Waters with a multi-hit game, collecting two hits apiece. Adding a pair of RBI to his two hits, Armsey recorded the Spartans' lone multi-RBI effort.
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Pitching in relief on both ends of the one-hour and 24-minute weather delay, senior right-handed pitcher Reece Hemmerling worked 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball—one out shy of his career-long outing. He struck out four batters, a career-best mark, helping Upstate's staff to six total punchouts.
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Game Information
Score: No. 3 Texas 11; USC Upstate 9
Records: USC Upstate (7-9; 0-0 Big South); Texas (14-0; 0-0 SEC)
Location: UFCU Disch-Falk Field | Austin, Texas
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How It Happened
Notable
Connect with the SpartansÂ
Facebook.com/UpstateAthleticsÂ
Twitter | @UpstateBSB | @UpstateSpartansÂ
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INVEST IN CHAMPIONS - Join the Upstate Athletic Fund (UAF) and enjoy enhanced benefits for your support of all USC Upstate programs! Make your gift today, click here!
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At the plate, Upstate registered 14 hits, the most against Texas pitching this season, outhitting the Longhorns, the first time they've been outhit since last May. Tying his career-high, senior first baseman Wylie Waters collected three hits, one of four multi-hit efforts by a Spartan.
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Redshirt senior third baseman Jake Armsey, redshirt sophomore catcher Tyler Lang, and redshirt sophomore centerfielder Henry Zenor joined Waters with a multi-hit game, collecting two hits apiece. Adding a pair of RBI to his two hits, Armsey recorded the Spartans' lone multi-RBI effort.
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Pitching in relief on both ends of the one-hour and 24-minute weather delay, senior right-handed pitcher Reece Hemmerling worked 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball—one out shy of his career-long outing. He struck out four batters, a career-best mark, helping Upstate's staff to six total punchouts.
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Game Information
Score: No. 3 Texas 11; USC Upstate 9
Records: USC Upstate (7-9; 0-0 Big South); Texas (14-0; 0-0 SEC)
Location: UFCU Disch-Falk Field | Austin, Texas
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How It Happened
- B1: Taking advantage of a pair of Spartan errors, Texas scratched three runs in the first. The game's first run scoring on a throwing error before back-to-back singles from Adrian Rodriguez and Temo Becerra produced the final two tallies.
- T2: Capitalizing in the second inning for the second straight game, Upstate used a pair of doubles, one from Gage Griggs and one from Wylie Waters, to plate its first run.
- T5: Fighting back to tie the ballgame, the Spartans pushed across two in the fifth. Johnny Sweeney drove in the first, depositing a solo shot into the Longhorn bullpen in right. Later in the inning, following back-to-back hits from Henry Zenor and Tyler Lang, a Texas throwing error allowed Zenor to scamper home and knot the game.
- B5: Responding to the Spartans' tallies in the top half of the inning, Texas plated seven runs on five hits and one Upstate error as 13 hitters stepped to the plate. An Aiden Robbins two-run, opposite-field homer marked the biggest hit of the stanza.
- B8: Adding its final run of the night, Texas put another tally on the board using a groundout to first from Anthony Pack Jr.
- T9: Offering a final-inning comeback attempt, Upstate sent 11 hitters to the plate, scratching six runs in the final frame. Maloy Heaghney pushed across the first with a bases-loaded walk before a fielder's choice off the bat of Griggs added another. A single into center from Kenan Bowman drove home run number three, ahead of a single to first from Trey Bentley, which punched across the fourth tally. Jake Armsey capped the inning with a two-run single to left.
Notable
- Recording 14 hits Saturday evening, USC Upstate recorded the most hits in a single game allowed by the Texas pitching staff this season and the most since ceding 15 hits to Louisiana on June 2, 2024. The Longhorns entered the weekend ranked second in the NCAA in hits allowed per nine innings, permitting 5.04 hits per nine innings.
- Outhitting the Longhorns by a 14-11 mark Saturday, Upstate became the first opponent to outhit Texas since May 31, 2025, when UTSA outhit the Longhorns 12-10.
- Scoring nine runs, the Spartans posted the most runs against the Longhorn pitching staff this season—Texas entered allowing no more than four runs in any game this year. The nine tallies are the most against Texas since allowing nine runs to the Roadrunners on May 31, 2025.
- Upstate's nine runs Saturday mark the most for the program against a ranked opponent since putting up nine tallies against No. 19 Troy on March 7, 2025. The run total is the highest for the Spartans against a top-five opponent since defeating No. 2 Clemson 9-5 on April 9, 2024.
Connect with the SpartansÂ
Facebook.com/UpstateAthleticsÂ
Twitter | @UpstateBSB | @UpstateSpartansÂ
Instagram | @UpstateBSB | @UpstateSpartansÂ
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans
INVEST IN CHAMPIONS - Join the Upstate Athletic Fund (UAF) and enjoy enhanced benefits for your support of all USC Upstate programs! Make your gift today, click here!
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Haiden Leffew (1-0)
L: Kummer, Andrew (1-1)
S: Michael Winter (1)
Batting:
2B: Lang, Tyler 1 ; Griggs, Gage 1 ; Waters, Wylie 1
HR: Sweeney, Johnny 1
RBI: Sweeney, Johnny 1 ; Armsey, Jake 2 ; Heaghney, Maloy 1 ; Griggs, Gage 1 ; Bowman, Kenan 1 ; Waters, Wylie 1 ; Bentley, Trey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sweeney, Johnny 1 ; Armsey, Jake 1 ; Zenor, Henry 2 ; Lang, Tyler 1 ; Griggs, Gage 2 ; Bowman, Kenan 1 ; Waters, Wylie 1
HBP: Zenor, Henry 1
Batting:
2B: Ethan Mendoza 1 ; Ashton Larson 1
HR: Aiden Robbins 1
RBI: Carson Tinney 1 ; Aiden Robbins 3 ; Adrian Rodriguez 2 ; Temo Becerra 1 ; Anthony Pack Jr. 1 ; Casey Borba 2 ; Ashton Larson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ethan Mendoza 1 ; Carson Tinney 1 ; Aiden Robbins 2 ; Adrian Rodriguez 2 ; Temo Becerra 1 ; Anthony Pack Jr. 1 ; Casey Borba 1 ; Jayden Duplantier 1 ; Josh Livingston 1
SB: Adrian Rodriguez 1 ; Temo Becerra 2 ; Anthony Pack Jr. 1
HBP: Ethan Mendoza 1
PO: Josh Livingston 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
6
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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