March 13, 2008
A-Sun.TV
Friday Gametracker | Saturday Gametracker (Game One) | Saturday Gametracker (Game Two) | Tuesday Gametracker | Wednesday Gametracker
Complete Weekly Release in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate baseball team will look to return to its core of pitching and defense this weekend in a three-game set with Atlantic Sun foe Campbell after allowing 28 runs in two games at Georgia Southern. Luckily for Upstate, the Spartans will be throwing three of the most accomplished hurlers in school history during the three-game set in senior Kyle Bowley, sophomore Matt Branham and senior Scott Eckard.
The Camels, who are 6-7 overall and 4-2 in the Atlantic Sun, are coming off a sweep of East Tennessee State last weekend. The Camels fell twice during the midweek at North Carolina A&T and Elon. The Camels are hitting .288 as a team and have three starters with ERAs under 4.00.
Upstate will look to their weekend rotation to lead the team, as Bowley enters the weekend third in the conference in ERA, Branham is tied for second in the league in innings pitched and Eckard is looking to set the school record for career wins when he takes the mound on Saturday.
The series is the return home of one of the best players in school history, as 2007 graduate John Caddell is a volunteer assistant with the Camels. Caddell is the all-time leader in hits (241) and runs (181) at Upstate.
A-Sun.TV will be available for all three games.
A Real Record-Setter
Already the school's all-time leader in complete games (12), shutouts (4) and strikeouts (228), senior Scott Eckard is looking to set another school pitching record when he takes the hill on Saturday against Campbell. The hard-throwing lefty is currently tied with Eric Hunter (1986-89) for the most wins in school history with 19 wins.
A Return Of A Local Rivalry
The Spartans will reignite a rivalry that has been dormant for 13 years when UNC Asheville heads to Harley Park for a 6 p.m. game on Tuesday. The Spartans have an 8-4 lead in the series and have never lost in Spartanburg to the Bulldogs. Asheville, who won the Big South Championship in 2006, is 6-8. A-Sun.TV will cover the mid-week game live.
Spartans Face South Carolina
After four straight home games, the USC Upstate baseball team will hit Interstate 26 and take the trip to Columbia, S.C., where it will face the first Division I ranked opponent in school history in No. 4/5 South Carolina. The Gamecocks are 10-3 overall and have two Preseason All-Americans in their lineup. The Spartans last beat a Division II opponent ranked in the top five on April 1, when they downed Georgia College & State, 5-4.
Runny's Run
Senior Andrew Runion has been on a tear for the last seven games, hitting safely in all of them and going 11-for-28 (.393). The Simpsonville, S.C., native has recovered from a hamstring injury that kept him from the lineup for three games and has re-assumed the role of the team's heart. In the three-game set with Mercer, Runion hit home runs in back-to-back games and he added his team-leading third on Thursday at Georgia Southern. In the past five games, Runion has five runs and seven RBIs. He is now just one RBI away from becoming the 11th player in school history to drive in 100 in a career. For good measure, Runion also threw two scoreless innings at Georgia Southern on March 12.
Eckard's Excellence
Senior Scott Eckard tied a 19-year-old USC Upstate record on Sunday at Mercer as he posted his 19th career victory. It was a masterful performance from the left-hander, as he pitched 8 1/3 innings, allowing just two runs and six hits in the game to tie Eric Hunter (1986-89, 19-6) for the most wins in school history. He struck out four, to increase his school record to 228 Ks in his career. After walking the bases loaded with two outs in the first inning, Eckard showed no signs of wildness in the rest of the game, allowing just six more baserunners.
Coming off an injury that limited him during the preseason and the fall, Eckard struggled in his first two outings of the year before his dominating performance against the Bears.
The Back-To-Back Jack Jinx?
Upstate head coach Matt Fincher may start asking batters who come up to the plate after home runs to bunt. In the 17-8 loss to Georgia Southern on March 12, senior Andrew Runion hit a monster shot to left field and junior Phillip Morgan followed with a blast to center field in the fifth inning.Runion and Morgan's back-to-back shots are the first for Upstate since Josh Clark and Bret Story hit consecutive dingers on March 12, 2006, exactly two years before, in a 17-7 loss to UNC Pembroke. Runion and Morgan's shots were the first time the Spartans have hit back-to-back homers as a Division I program.
Freshman Fours
Freshmen Keith Bisgounis and A.J. Clark have each hit safely in their last four games, helping the duo make it harder to keep their names out of the lineup cards. Bisgounis, a corner outfielder, is hitting .400 (6-for-15) with four runs and two doubles in the last four games. He had two hits in each of the games at Georgia Southern, including a double in each game. Clark, a second/third baseman, has gone 5-for-16 (.313) with two runs and two RBIs during his last four starts.
Never Sweeter Than The First Time
Senior Kyle Bowley and sophomore Matt Branham each posted quality starts by throwing eight innings, allowing USC Upstate to heat up and sweep East Tennessee State, 11-1 in eight innings in the first game and 8-3 in the second game, as Upstate won its first Atlantic Sun Conference games in school history at Cardinal Park on March 1. Coming off an injured hamstring that kept him from the lineup for three games, all Spartan losses, senior Andrew Runion paced the team with a 4-for-9 day at the plate, including a double, three RBIs and two runs. Junior Eric Guillen thrived in the No. 8 slot after starting the first five games of the year at the top of the order in the No. 2 slot, went 4-for-7 with two runs scored.
Making Pitchers Say D'oh
Junior outfielder Kyle Simpson is currently fifth in the Atlantic Sun in runs scored, having posted 15 runs through 14 games. The Spartan leadoff hitter also has nine RBIs on the season. The centerfielder crossed the plate six times on March 1-2 at ETSU. He also had quite a midweek before that, facing two teams that made the NCAA Regionals during the 2007 season, as he went 4-for-9 with four runs and four RBIs. On Feb. 26, Simpson went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs against Wofford, hitting a three-run homer to cap an eight-run sixth inning. On Feb. 27, Simpson went 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI against Charlotte, as he was responsible for all three Spartan runs in the game.
Morgan's Mastery
Junior Phillip Morgan has continued to thrive early in the season, as the catcher is currently ranked among Atlantic Sun Conference leaders in two categories. Hitting .286 in 15 starts, Morgan is currently second in the conference in RBIs with 18 and tied for fourth with three homers. After struggling through four games last week, Morgan's bat came alive again on Wednesday, as he went 2-for-4 with a homer and a double in the game. A tough and gritty competitor, Morgan has also caught three runner stealing in seven attempts behind the plate.
Casey At The Bat
Senior Casey Rivers has been a pleasant surprise this season for Upstate. Currently second on the team with a .319 batting average, Rivers has three doubles and five RBIs this season. He also is tied for the team lead with two stolen bases. A senior from Hudson, Mass., Rivers has taken over the second base position thanks his series against ETSU, hitting .583 (7-for-12) with six runs, two doubles and three RBIs to pace the Spartans as they took two of three games from the Bucs. He scored five runs and added two RBIs in the doubleheader sweep of the Bucs on March 1 before adding two doubles in the final game of the series.
Bowley Rolls
Senior Kyle Bowley has shown the ability to be a DI ace so far this season, embarking on the most effective back-to-back starts in his career in his first two starts. Against New Jersey Tech on opening night, Bowley was spectacular, striking out seven batters in the first three innings and cruising through seven innings of work, retiring seven in a row at one point. He finished the game with eight strikeouts against just one walk, falling one shy of his career-high of nine strikeouts. In his second start, Bowley was even better, pitching a complete-game, eight-inning five-hitter against East Tennessee State, allowing just one run and striking out six.
Bowley has thrown back-to-back starts allowing just one run three times in his career, although he had never thrown more than 12 combined innings the other two times. As a sophomore, Bowley pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings in a win against Lander on April 10 and then allowed two earned runs in 8 1/3 innings in a loss against North Florida on April 17 in the only stretch of his career where he allowed fewer earned runs in more innings in back-to-back starts.
The Middle Men
So far this season, the Spartans have done a majority of their damage during the middle innings with 50 of their 85 runs (59 percent) being scored between the fifth and seventh innings. Through 15 games, the Spartans have done more than a quarter of their damage in the sixth inning, scoring 22 runs in that frame. They've added 17 in the fifth inning and 11 in the seventh.
Three Earn All-Tournament Honors
Three USC Upstate players earned all tournament honors after the Spartans finished second at the Courtyard by Marriott Baseball Classic at Harley Park with a 2-1 record. Junior Phillip Morgan led the way, posting a .462 batting average and adding two runs and four RBIs in the three games. Sophomore Jimmy Tanner hit .375 with a run and an RBI to earn a slot on the team and senior Kyle Bowley also garnered a slot on the team with a .286 average at the plate and a 1-0 record and a 1.29 ERA on the mound.
Bowley Bowling For Records
Already possibly the most accomplished two-way player in school history, senior Kyle Bowley entered his last year at Upstate in position to enter the top 10 in at least eight offensive categories and four pitching categories. Bowley is just 47 hits away from becoming the seventh player in school history to reach 200 hits in a career and he is already tied for fifth with 40 career doubles. On the mound, Bowley's 14 wins is tied for sixth in school history and his 192.1 innings pitched is sixth.
Already At The Top Of The List
Senior pitcher Scott Eckard enters the 2008 season already having written his name all over the Upstate record book. He struck out seven in a 10-4 win over Armstrong Atlantic State on April 21, 2007 to give him 206 career strikeouts to become the school's strikeout king. Eckard surpassed former Spartan Brandon Williams, who compiled 202 strikeouts from 2003-06 and is currently in the minor leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. It was even more impressive that Eckard was very effective in the win since he was making his first start since an emergency appendectomy 10 days earlier. Eckard finished the season the school's all-time leader in complete games (12), shutouts (4) and strikeouts (212).
A Summer Superstar
Senior Kyle Bowley was named to the National team in the Coastal Plains League All-Star game, finishing second during the All-Star Game's Home Run Derby and earning the game's Offensive MVP award. Bowley, a first baseman for the Stingers, hit four homers during the Home Run Derby at Columbia's Capitol City Stadium. In the All-Star game, Bowley came on as a sub in the top of the sixth inning and keyed a five-run rally with a no-out double that drove in a run from third. He scored two batters later on a single. In the seventh inning, he added another RBI single up the middle with no outs to give the National team its final run in a 9-3 victory. Bowley finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored to earn the Offensive MVP honor.
Spartans Succeed In Summer Leagues
Six other Spartans also enjoyed decent summers playing baseball in various collegiate summer baseball leagues. Sophomore Matt Branham, a 6-5 right-hander, was a vital part of the Columbia Blowfish' bullpen in the Coastal Plains League. In 12 appearances and 27.2 innings pitched, Branham picked up one save while striking out 14 and walking just six. Senior Scott Eckard, a 6-1 left-hander, led the Sanford River Rats on the hill all season, posting a 1-1 record and a 1.80 ERA in five starts. He has tossed 25 innings, allowing just 17 hits for a paltry opponents' .200 batting average. He has also added 33 strikeouts, which was 10th in the league, and walked just eight.
Junior Dennis McCraney, a 6-1 southpaw, was a key left-handed gun in the Carolina Sox' arsenal in the Southern Collegiate League. He was 1-0 with a 4.07 ERA, having appeared in eight games and tossing 24.1 innings. Sophomore Jimmy Tanner, a 5-11 catcher/first baseman, played primarily first base for the Battle Creek Bombers in the Northwoods League. He posted a .288 average, notching 46 hits, adding eight doubles and 19 RBIs to go along with 13 runs scored. Junior Phillip Myers also found success with the Bombers, going 2-3 for the team, appearing in 14 games and starting four. The 6-5 southpaw struck out 20 and walked 17. Junior Phillip Morgan played summer ball with the Spartanburg Crickets at USC Upstate's Harley Park. He posted eight doubles, 22 hits, 10 runs and two homers.
Nowak Moving Up The Chain
Former USC Upstate baseball star Chris Nowak has continued to shine during his professional baseball career, as he led the Montgomery Biscuits to its second-straight Class AA Southern League Championship in 2007. The 6-4 infielder was named the unanimous Southern League Championship Series MVP after hitting .611 (11-for-18) with three home runs during the series. Nowak finished his first full season at Double-A with a .304 batting average, seven homers and 55 RBIs. He also stole 18 bases and added a hefty .396 on-base percentage. In his final 15 games, Nowak was on fire, hitting five homers and batting .467 (28-for-60). Nowak is expected to begin this season in AAA Durham for the Devil Rays.
Quite The Streak
Head coach Matt Fincher has helped at least one Spartan in each of the last four seasons to go pro, including two players after the 2007 season. Chris Nowak, now in the Devil Rays chain, started the string in 2004 and Eric Davis continued the string in 2005, when he played a season for an independent league team, the Amarillo Dillas. Brandon Williams was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates after the 2006 season and he is entering his third season in pro ball. He went 1-2 with a 2.53 ERA pitching mainly out of the bullpen for the State College in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League. In 2007, both Bret Story and Bradley Blanks signed pro contracts after the season. Story, who was signed as a free agent with Texas, played his first season in the Arizona League. Blanks signed a pro contract with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League.
A Rough Schedule
In a 54-game schedule, the Spartans won't play just the six games against 2007 NCAA Tournament teams dictated by the conference schedule, but four more games against tournament teams in what could easily be the toughest entrance to the ranks of Division I for any of Upstate's athletic programs. The numbers look stacked against the Spartans, with 17 games against teams that finished 2007 in the top 115 in RPI according to Boyd's World.com and only nine games against teams with RPIs above 200. For Upstate, though, it's nothing new. In their last season in Division II, the Spartans played 22 of their 59 games against teams ranked in Collegiate Baseball's Top 30.
A History of Upsets
In his decade at the helm, head coach Matt Fincher's clubs proved a thorn in the side of many of the best baseball teams in Division II. Fincher's Spartans have beaten 48 teams ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Magazine Top 30 and 20 wins have come against teams in the top 10. The Spartans even pulled off historic wins on March 23, 2003, when Upstate downed top-ranked Kennesaw State, 8-7, and on March 18, 2006 when Upstate beat top-ranked Georgia College & State University, 11-1. In all, the Spartans won at least one game against a team inside the top 25 in each of Fincher's years with the program and have won at least one game against a team ranked in the top 10 in each of the last five years.
Harley Park
Since opening in 2004, Harley Park has been no picnic for opposing teams to enter. The 500-seat complex has helped make Upstate a formidable force in Division II before moving up to Division I in 2008. In five seasons at Harley Park, the Spartans have produced a 78-49 (.614) record, with 19 of those wins coming against teams ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30.
