Third Straight Double-Digit Scoring Game Lifts Baseball To Sweep with Run-Rule Victory Sunday over Gardner-Webb

Sunday, May 3

Spartanburg, S.C.

2:00 p.m.

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

22-26, 11-10

Gardner-Webb

21-27, 8-13

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Gardner-Webb	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	5	0
USC Upstate	0	0	6	6	0	1	X	13	17	1

Jake Armsey 3rd AB vs. Gardner-Webb Gm 1 2026 - NM

Photo by: Natalia Moll

5/3/2026 6:57:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Facing a scenario it's seen in each of its six home weekends during the 2026 season, USC Upstate baseball bucked the season's Sunday trend as it completed the sweep of Gardner-Webb in run-rule fashion, 13-2 in seven innings, at Cleveland S. Harley Park. The victory secures the Spartans' first sweep of the season and improves the team's winning streak over the Runnin' Bulldogs to 15 games, a streak dating to the 2022 campaign.

The offense, as it has throughout the series, proved the catalyst for victory, scoring double-digit runs for the third straight contest—a feat last accomplished in a sweep of Presbyterian on May 9-10, 2025. All nine starters in the Upstate batting order reached base at least once, eight of whom reached with a hit, as Upstate collected 17 hits on the afternoon.

Leading to the team's hit total, six Spartans registered multi-hit afternoons, headed by three-hit games from redshirt freshman centerfielder Trey Bentley (career-high), fifth-year senior designated hitter Johnny Sweeney (season-high-tying), and redshirt sophomore rightfielder Henry Zenor. The duo of Bently (two RBI) and Sweeney (four RBI) joined redshirt senior third baseman Jake Armsey (two RBI) and senior first baseman Wylie Waters (two RBI) with multi-RBI efforts.

Holding the Runnin' Bulldogs in check on the afternoon, junior right-handed pitcher Brent Stukes and junior righty Wyatt Land scattered five hits and two runs over the game's seven-inning duration. Stukes tossed 4.1 innings to pick up the win while Land worked 2.2 hitless and scoreless innings to close out the contest.

Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 13; Gardner-Webb 2 (7 inn.)
Records: USC Upstate (22-26; 11-10 Big South); Gardner-Webb (21-27; 8-13 Big South)
Location: Cleveland S. Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.

How It Happened

T3: For the third straight game in the series, Gardner-Webb scored the first runs of the game, doing so with a two-run home run from Merik Carter.
B3: As it did in games one and two of the three-game set, Upstate provided its response in the form of a big inning, scoring six runs in the home half of the third. Pushing the Spartans to the lead, Johnny Sweeney clubbed a three-run blast to right, kickstarting the frame's scoring. Three straight run-producing hits from Jake Armsey, Preston Lucas, and Wylie Waters tacked on three additional tallies.
B4: Batting around for the second straight stanza, the Spartans hung six additional tallies on the board in the fourth. An RBI single from Sweeney started the scoring, preceding a two-run double from Trey Bentley and an RBI double from Armsey. With two outs, Upstate scratched two more runs behind RBI singles from Gage Griggs and Henry Zenor.
B6: Adding the day's final run, Waters doubled down the third base line, driving home Lucas.

Notable

Homering for the third straight game, Johnny Sweeney slugged his 10^th long ball of the season, giving him back-to-back double-digit home run seasons. He is the first Spartan since Grant Sherrod in 2023 and 2024 to fashion back-to-back seasons with 10-plus homers, becoming the fifth different Spartan, joining Todd Ellison (1989; 1990; 1991), Tommy Hodge (1990; 1991), Stanley Jones (1990; 1991), and Sherrod in the feat.
Earning a run-rule victory Sunday afternoon, Upstate's 13-2 win over Gardner-Webb marks the club's seventh run-rule victory since the rule was implemented by the NCAA prior to the 2023 season. The Spartans move to 7-7 in run-rule games since 2023, moving to 2-2 in such games in 2026.

Up Next for the Spartans
Continuing its four-game homestand, Upstate hosts Elon Tuesday evening at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. First pitch from the home of the Greenville Drive is set for 6 p.m. ET.

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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!