Baseball Finishes Season Sweep of Western Carolina with 18-11 Midweek Victory Fuelled by Three Five-Run Frames

Tuesday, April 7

Cullowhee, N.C.

5:00 p.m.

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

17-17

Western Carolina

20-14

USC Upstate

Western Carolina

Photo by: Emma Hudson

4/7/2026 8:46:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – On the road to close out its five-game stretch of games away from home and its home-and-home midweek series with the Catamounts, USC Upstate hung three five-run innings on the board and smoked four long balls en route to an 18-11 win Tuesday at Western Carolina. In the two-game series, the Spartans combined to score 35 runs against the Catamounts.

Helping Upstate jump on its foe in the opening frame, redshirt sophomore catcher Tyler Lang clubbed his team-leading sixth homer of the year, spurring a five-RBI day, a career high. Joining him with a big fly in the first inning, redshirt sophomore centerfielder Trey Bently swatted his fourth homer of the campaign, a solo shot to the opposite field, part of a two-hit, two-RBI day.

Fuelling the Spartans' third five-run frame, senior leftfielder Wylie Waters and senior catcher Preston Lucas launched back-to-back jacks—the first instance of back-to-back homers for Upstate this season. Waters' three-run shot over the batter's eye stoked a season-high four RBI performance. Lucas' opposite-field home run helped him to a multi-hit and multi-RBI game.

On the mound, junior right-handed pitcher Wyatt Land earned his first collegiate victory, working 2.0 innings of relief for the Spartans. Junior left-hander Jack Gibson and redshirt freshman righty Jacob Kirby each worked scoreless appearances, their sixth and ninth, respectively, this season.

Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 18; Western Carolina 11
Records: USC Upstate (17-17; 6-6 Big South); Western Carolina (20-14; 3-3 SoCon)
Location: Childress Field at Hennon Stadium | Cullowhee, N.C.

How It Happened

T1: Jumping out of the gate early, Upstate pounced on the Catamounts for five runs in the opening frame. Tyler Lang began the scoring with a three-run blast to left-center preceding an opposite-field solo shot from Trey Bentley for run number four. Swatting a triple off the top of the wall in left-center, Preston Lucas drove home the final run of the frame, plating Wylie Waters.
T2: Tacking two more runs onto their advantage, the Spartans used a pair of groundouts from Lang and Clayton Campidilli to score twice.
B2: Trimming the Spartans' lead, Western Carolina scratched three in the third. A two-run single from Jaylen Jones back through the middle plated the first two before an RBI groundout from Trey Spees capped the inning's scoring.
B3: A three-run Mason Holton home run to left-center drew Western Carolina within a run, crafting the Catamounts' second three-run frame.
T4: Regaining its six-run advantage, Upstate capitalized on four Catamount errors in the frame, posting another five-spot. Hitting with the bases loaded, Jake Armsey cleared the bases, collecting three RBI, with a double to left-center. Bentley and Waters added the other two RBI in the stanza.
T5: Adding another RBI to his collection, Lang laced a single back through the middle, plating Gage Griggs from third.
B5: Getting the run it allowed in the top half back plus one, Western Carolina scored twice in the home half of the fifth. An RBI triple to center from Noah Quarless plated the first before a sac fly from Caden Haywood brought him home.
B7: Using a sac fly from Haywood and an RBI single from J. Jones, the Catamounts hung two additional tallies on the board, drawing with three runs.
T8: Hanging another five runs on the scoreboard, Upstate extended its lead once more behind the team's first instance of back-to-back jacks this season. Waters cleared the batter's eye with a three-run shot, just ahead of an opposite-field solo shot to left by Lucas. Driving home the first run of the frame, Campidilli shot a single through a drawn-in infield.
B8: Getting a run back, the Catamounts plated a run on an RBI fielder's choice from Quarless.

Notable

Driving home a career-high five RBI Tuesday against the Catamounts, Tyler Lang becomes the second Spartan with five-plus RBI versus Western Carolina this season. He joins Jake Armsey, who drove home a career-best five in the Feb. 17 meeting between the two clubs.
Recording four hits Tuesday night, Henry Zenor tied his career high for single-game hits, tied for the highest individual single-game total by a Spartan this season. His latest four-hit contest comes against the same foe his first did, Western Carolina.
Seeing back-to-back home runs from Wylie Waters and Preston Lucas in the eighth inning, the homers marked the first instance of back-to-back homers for Upstate this season. The feat marked the first time the Spartans' lineup went back-to-back since the sixth inning of the Big South Baseball Championship Game versus Charleston Southern on May 24, 2025.
Hitting multiple home runs in the first and eighth innings, the frames are the second and third this season to see the Spartans homer multiple times, joining the fourth inning against Northern Illinois on Feb. 20.
Posting three five-run frames Tuesday versus the Catamounts, the three such frames are the most in a game this season by the Spartans this year. Upstate had two five-run frames against NJIT on Feb. 20, the previous game-high.

Up Next for the Spartans
Beginning a four-game stretch against opponents hailing from the Holy City, Upstate returns to Cleveland S. Harley Park for a three-game series versus Charleston Southern. The Spartans and Buccaneers meet Friday (6 p.m. ET), Saturday (2 p.m.), and Sunday (1 p.m.) in the series.

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!

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Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Land, Wyatt (1-1)

L: Tyler Oaks (1-3)

USC Upstate

Batting:

2B: Zenor, Henry 2 ; Bentley, Trey 1 ; Armsey, Jake 1

3B: Lucas, Preston 1

HR: Lang, Tyler 1 ; Bentley, Trey 1 ; Waters, Wylie 1 ; Lucas, Preston 1

RBI: Lang, Tyler 5 ; Campidilli, Clayton 2 ; Bentley, Trey 2 ; Armsey, Jake 3 ; Waters, Wylie 4 ; Lucas, Preston 2

SF: Waters, Wylie 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Zenor, Henry 3 ; Heaghney, Maloy 3 ; Lang, Tyler 2 ; Campidilli, Clayton 2 ; Bentley, Trey 3 ; Armsey, Jake 1 ; Waters, Wylie 2 ; Lucas, Preston 1 ; Griggs, Gage 1