April 1, 2008

Final Stats

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Sixth-inning replacement senior Kyle Bowley (Apopka, Fla./Apopka) helped spark the USC Upstate baseball team with an 11-run eighth inning as it came from behind to defeat North Carolina A&T, 16-6, at Harley Park on Tuesday night in non-conference play.

Bowley went 3-for-3 with a double, a homer, three runs and three RBIs in just three innings of play to lead the Spartans (15-14), as he also moved into third place in school history in career RBIs with 122, passing Chris Nowak (2002-04), who had 121.

Bowley helped the Spartans take the lead in the eighth inning, as Upstate grouped together six hits, five walks and a hit batter for 11 runs. After freshman Keith Bisgounis (Oviedo, Fla./Oviedo) walked to lead off, Bowley hit a ball into the right-center field gap for an RBI double to tie the game at five. He scored on the next play, as junior Eric Guillen (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks) reached on a bunt single and the throw to first ended up in right field.

From there, the rally continued with the first nine men of the inning reaching base. Junior Kyle Simpson (Lyman, S.C./Byrnes) was hit by a pitch and freshman A.J. Clark (Colorado Springs, Colo./Colorado Springs Christian) walked to load the bases. Senior Andrew Runion (Simpsonville, S.C./Mauldin) followed by smashing a ball down the left field line for two runs. Senior Casey Rivers (Hudson, Mass./Hudson) was walked intentionally, allowing sophomore Jimmy Tanner (Fayetteville, Ga./Stars Mill) to drive in Clark with a walk. A wild pitch brought in Runion before freshman Blake Green (Rock Hill, S.C./Northwestern) walked to reload the bases.

After a strikeout, Bowley drove in his second run of the inning with a single through the left side, setting up Guillen, who cleared the bases with a triple that went under the diving center fielder's glove. Guillen scored on the next play as Simpson doubled to left center, giving Upstate a 16-6 lead.

The Aggies (11-16 overall) took an early lead, using a leadoff double from Nelson Santos and a single from Jeremy Jones to scratch a run across the plate. The Spartans answered in the bottom of the first inning, as Simpson led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice, third on a passed ball and scored on an infield single to third base by Rivers

North Carolina A&T added three runs on four hits in the third inning to take a 4-1 advantage. Upstate answered with a run of its own in the third inning, as Simpson hit a one-out triple that rolled to the wall in the right-center wall. He scored on a sac fly by Clark.

The Aggies got back to work in the fourth, crossing the plate again thanks to a walk, a stolen base, a balk and a groundout. Runion brought the Spartans within a run in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to his seventh homer of the season. Simpson singled through the left side to lead off the inning and a sacrifice moved him to second where he was scored on Runion's opposite-field blast.

A&T regained a two-run advantage thanks to consecutive base hits from Jeremy Jones, C.J. Beatty and Nick Rogers in the sixth inning. Senior Kyle Bowley (Apopka, Fla./Apopka) answered for Upstate in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer over the right field fence to make it 6-5.

Simpson went 3-for-4 with four runs and an RBI and Runion went 3-for-6 with two runs and four RBIs to pace the Spartans. Rivers went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI and Guillen also went 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs. Guillen now has 99 hits in his career.

Santos, Jones, Beatty and Rogers each had two hits and at least a run as the top four batters in the Aggie lineup combined to go 8-for-16 with five runs and three RBIs. James Howard and John Primus also added tow of the Aggies' 13 hits.

Sophomore Brian Dempsey (Montverde, Fla./East Ridge) (1-0) picked up his first collegiate win with three innings of relief, allowing five hits and a run. He walked one and struck out one. Cyril Daniel (0-1) took the loss, allowing two hits, a walk and three runs for the Aggies.

With the homer in the fifth inning, Runion moved into 12th place by himself on Upstate's all-time homer list, passing teammate Bowley. With his four RBIs in the game, Runion moved into seventh place in school history with 114, passing Eric Smith (113 RBIs, 1993-95). Bowley retied Runion in the sixth inning with his homer, as both have 16 in their careers, one shy of entering the top 10 in school history.

Upstate gets back on the field on Wednesday night when High Point comes to Harley Park for a 6 p.m. first pitch.