Bullpen Strings Together 11.0 Scoreless Frames in Baseball's Twin Bill to Begin Series at Samford

Friday, April 24

Birmingham, Ala.

4:00 p.m.

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

19-24

Samford

21-19

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
USC Upstate	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	0	0	5	7	2
Samford	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	X	7	12	0

Jack Gibson 7th Inn. vs. Radford Gm 2 2026 - EH

Photo by: Emma Hudson

4/24/2026 11:15:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Seeing Mother Nature force just the club's second doubleheader of the 2026 campaign, USC Upstate baseball dropped both ends of its twin bill to begin its penultimate non-conference series Friday at Samford. The Spartans' comeback attempt in game one fell just short in a 7-5 decision before Upstate suffered a 6-1 setback in game two.

Carrying the freight for the Spartans throughout the doubleheader, Upstate's bullpen strung together 11.0 scoreless innings of work amongst five arms while striking out 14 batters, pushing its scoreless streak to 18.2 innings dating back to Tuesday's game at Clemson.

Entering the game with Upstate trailing 7-0 in game one, junior right-handed pitcher Nathan Hook immediately stabilized the Spartans, scattering three hits and four baserunners over 2.2 innings of work. He passed the ball to junior righty Wyatt Land, who surrendered one hit and struck out two over 2.0 innings of relief.

Behind the momentum of their bullpen, the Spartans reeled off five unanswered runs from the fifth onward in game one. Jumpstarting the offense, senior leftfielder Brady Small slugged a two-run homer to right to start the rally attempt. Redshirt sophomore rightfielder Henry Zenor and senior first baseman Wylie Waters followed in with RBI doubles, driving home one and two runs, respectively, in a three-run sixth inning.

Upstate's string of unanswered runs continued into game two as redshirt sophomore shortstop Maloy Heagney doubled home a run in the first frame of the contest.

Seeing Samford take the lead, the Spartans turned to their bullpen once again as the combination of freshman righty Andrew Kummer, redshirt junior right-hander Max Eichenberger, junior left-hander Jack Gibson, and sophomore righty Brad Benton turned in 6.1 consecutive innings of scoreless relief, striking out nine Bulldogs amongst the group in the stretch.

Eichenberger struck out a career-high-tying five in 2.0 innings of work, scattering two hits. Gibson punched out a career-best four batters while scattering three hits over 3.0 innings pitched, a career-long outing.

Game Information (Game One)
Score: Samford 7; USC Upstate 5
Records: USC Upstate (19-24; 8-10 Big South); Samford (21-19; 8-4 SoCon)
Location: Joe Lee Griffin Field | Birmingham, Ala.

How It Happened (Game One)

B1: Striking first, Samford scored thrice in the opening frame. Jake Souders began the day's scoring, clubbing a two-run homer to left-center before Jeffery Ince provided the inning's third run with an RBI single to left-center.
B2: Taking advantage of a pair of Upstate errors, the Bulldogs struck again in the second as Souders added an RBI to his ledger with a double off the wall in center. He'd later come around to score for the second time on an RBI double from Cade Carr.
B3: Expanding its advantage, Samford tacked two more runs to the board in the third using a two-run home run from Eddie Marshall.
T5: Putting the Spartans on the board, Brady Small slugged his second home run of the year, hitting a two-run blast to right-center.
T6: Trimming the deficit, Upstate struck for three tallies in the sixth. Henry Zenor began the Spartans' outburst as he shot a double to the opposite field and down the leftfield line, scoring Maloy Heaghney from first. Hitting with the bases loaded, Wylie Waters slammed a double off the top of the wall in right, pushing across runs two and three of the stanza.

Game Information (Game Two)
Score: Samford 6; USC Upstate 1
Records: USC Upstate (19-25; 8-10 Big South); Samford (22-19; 8-4 SoCon)
Locations: Joe Lee Griffin Field | Birmingham, Ala.

How It Happened (Game Two)

T1: Striking first and continuing its streak of unanswered runs from game one of the twin bill, Upstate scratched a run in the first as Maloy Heaghney doubled off the base of the wall in right-center, chasing home Jake Armsey.
B2: Snapping the Spartans' streak of consecutive runs scored at six, Samford's Luke Boykin crushed a solo shot to left-center to tie the game. The Bulldogs scratched another pair of runs in the frame, taking advantage of free bases surrendered by the Spartans, scoring on a bases-loaded walk and a fielder's choice.
B8: Extending the Bulldogs' lead, Pierce Dutton slapped a three-run home run down the leftfield line.

Notable

Picking off a runner in the first inning of game one, Chris Torres nabbed his fourth runner of the season. His total marks the most individual pickoffs by a Spartan in a season since Jordan Miller (both a pitcher and a catcher) picked off four runners in 2015.
Inducing a double play in the first inning of game two, Max Kaplan induced his seventh twin killing of the season, a team-leading total. Last season, Amp Phillips and Chris Torres led the Spartans with seven double plays induced.
Seeing its losing streak extend to seven games following game one of Friday's twin bill, the losing streak becomes the longest by the Spartans since a seven-game streak from March 9-20, 2016. With the streak extending in the second game of the doubleheader, the streak is the longest streak since a 10-game losing streak from April 13 to May 7, 2014.

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