Baseball Faces Extra Innings for the Second Time This Season, Falling in the 10th to Winthrop in Sunday's Series Finale

Sunday, April 19

Rock Hill, S.C.

2:00 p.m.

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

19-22, 8-10

Winthrop

27-13, 10-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
USC Upstate	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	9	1
Winthrop	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	3	1	6	13	1

Maloy Heaghney 2nd AB vs. Winthrop Gm 1 2026 - EH

Photo by: Emma Hudson

4/19/2026 6:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Seeking to avoid a weekend sweep and its first weekend sweep in Big South Conference play since March 2025, USC Upstate baseball saw its series finale head to extra innings—the Spartans' second extra-innings contest of the campaign—before Winthrop earned the walk-off victory in the 10^th inning, securing a 6-5 win Sunday afternoon.

Despite seeing the Eagles strike first, the Spartans fought back with a five-run fifth inning, the team's 11^th five-plus run frame of the season. Propelling the stanza, redshirt sophomore shortstop Maloy Heaghney ripped a two-run double into the leftfield corner, delivering Upstate the lead and securing his eighth multi-RBI game of the season.

Winthrop scratched its way back throughout the back half of the game, plating runs in the sixth before scoring thrice in the ninth to send the game to extras. The Eagles walked off the game in the 10^th.

On the bump, junior right-handed pitcher Brent Stukes fashioned his second quality start of the year, scatting nine hits and two runs (one earned run) while collecting three strikeouts against no walks. Stukes followed junior left-hander Chris Torres and sophomore lefty Max Kaplan in turning in a quality start, giving Upstate its longest streak of consecutive quality starts this season.

Two Upstate hitters, redshirt senior third baseman Jake Armsey and redshirt senior second baseman Alex Ritzer, collected multi-hit contests with two hits apiece.

Game Information
Score: Winthrop 6; USC Upstate 5 [10 inn.]
Records: USC Upstate (19-22; 8-10 Big South); Winthrop (27-13; 10-2 Big South)
Location: Founders Field | Rock Hill, S.C.

How It Happened

B4: For the third straight game this weekend, Jaylen Hernandez opened Winthrop's scoring with a solo shot to rightfield.
T5: Providing an immediate answer, Upstate struck for five runs in the fifth. Maloy Heaghney put the Spartans out front with a double into the leftfield corner, driving home a pair. He'd come home to score on an RBI groundout from Henry Zenor. A pair of RBI singles from Tyler Lang and Wylie Waters plated the fourth and fifth tallies of the frame.
B6: Cutting into its deficit, Winthrop scratched a run in the sixth on a fielder's choice from Chazz Grossington.
B9: Battling back, the Eagles scratched a run with an RBI groundout from Zach Greenburg, the first of three runs in the frame. Knotting the game and sending it to extras, Collin Crowley slammed a two-run homer to right-center.
B10: Shooting a ball back into centerfield, Chazz Grossington provided the walk-off winner for the Eagles, driving home Josh Skowronski from second.

Notable

Drawing a walk in the fifth inning, Trey Bentley extended his team-long reached base streak to 21 games. His reached base streak is the longest since Preston Lucas' 29-game streak snapped on Feb. 15 against South Alabama.
Permitting two runs, one of which was earned, Brent Stukes fashioned his second quality start of the season. This weekend, all three starting pitchers notched quality starts, the first time this season that Upstate pitching has strung together three straight quality starts.

Up Next for the Spartans
Remaining in the Palmetto State for the fifth of its eight games in its latest road swing, USC Upstate takes a trip to Clemson Tuesday as the road swing continues. The first of two meetings between the Spartans and Tigers features a 7 p.m. ET first pitch.

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

TICKETS ON-SALE FOR SPARTY'S BALL – MAY 15^th
Support USC Upstate student-athletes at Sparty's Ball, the largest fundraising event of the year for the Upstate Athletic Fund (UAF), to be held Friday, May 15, 2025, at The Piedmont Club. For tickets, sponsorship, and auction information, click here!