March 31, 2008
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SPARTANBURG, S.C. - For the first time this season, the USC Upstate baseball team will play two midweek games in the friendly confines of Harley Park, as North Carolina A&T and High Point will come to Upstate for 6 p.m. games on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The Aggies, at 11-15, dropped two of three games this weekend against Florida A&M. The Big South's Panthers enter the weekend at 8-18 overall after sweeping UNC Asheville in Big South action this weekend.
Upstate Earns Third Walk-Off Win Of The Year
The Spartans took their third win of the season in walk-off variety on Saturday to end a doubleheader with defending A-Sun Conference Champions Jacksonville. Junior Kyle Simpson had the winning single in the 5-4 win in game two to sweep visiting Jacksonville. Upstate rallied in the ninth inning to score a run after Jacksonville tied the game at four in the top of the inning in the second game. Freshman Keith Bisgounis came around to score from second base on a base hit to short left field by Simpson. The throw to the plate was on a line, but Bisgounis was able to slide into the catcher and knock the ball away for Upstate's third walk-off win of the season. The Spartans had two walk-off wins against Campbell on March 17.
A Real Record-Setter
Already the school's all-time leader in complete games (12), shutouts (4) and strikeouts (228), senior Scott Eckard added one more notch to his belt on March 17 when he picked up his first career win in relief against Campbell for his 20th career win. The hard-throwing lefty passed Eric Hunter (1986-89) for the most wins in school history with 19 wins when he got out of a one-out, runner on second jam in the ninth inning of a suspended game by getting a fly out and a strikeout. The Spartans quickly scored the winning run for Eckard in the bottom of the ninth, giving him another school record.
On Saturday, he etched his name at the top of another category, as he threw seven innings, allowing two earned runs against Jacksonville to become the school's all-time leader in innings pitched, passing Trevor Berryhill (2002-05) for the top slot in career innings pitched with 279.0. Berryhill threw 278.1 innings in his four years. Next on his list for total domination in the school's record book is the record for career starts, where he is two shy of Berryhill's school-record of 45.
Filling A Tall Order
After a heartbreaking 8-7 loss on Friday to open the series with Jacksonville, sophomore Matt Branham needed a solid pitching performance to help Upstate rebound. He delivered, with a sparkling eight innings of shutout baseball in the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday against the defending A-Sun champs. The 6-5 right-hander was dominant, as he struck out six to improve to 3-2 on the season, and leading Upstate to a 4-0 win. He threw 123 pitches in the game, but never labored during the start, as no Jacksonville hitter got past second base and only in the seventh inning did he allow two base runners to reach. Meanwhile, his confidence flourished as the game went on, as he struck out two of the last three he faced.
National Attention
Even though USC Upstate is not technically in the national rankings while the school is reclassifying to the Division I level, senior Kyle Bowley would rank in the top 50 in multiple categories in the baseball statistical updates released on March 23, thanks to his impressive work on the mound. He is tied for 14th in the nation in wins, having posted four, just one from the national lead. He is tied for 46th in strikeouts with 35 and tied for 48th with a 1.75 ERA.
Bowley Keeps Rolling
Senior Kyle Bowley kept rolling along as the Spartans' ace, as he has thrown 140 pitches in each of his last two starts, setting career-highs in strikeouts in each start. Bowley labored through the first three innings against North Florida, allowing three runs and five hits in that span, but settled down to allow just two unearned runs in the final six innings, as he finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts. He allowed 11 hits, four walks and five runs in the game, as he surpassed his previous-best in strikeouts, when he fanned nine at North Georgia on April 22, 2006. He broke the mark in his next start, as he threw 7 1/3 innings, allowing 10 hits and six runs, but only three were earned against Jacksonville. He struck out a career-high 12. In the process, he moved into a tie for third in school history with 158 career punchouts with Trevor Berryhill (2002-05).
Bowley currently leads the conference in strikeouts with 47 and is tied for second in wins (4) and complete games (2). He is also second in the conference in innings pitched (43.1) and is third in earned run average (2.08).
Heating Up
Upstate, after hitting .246 through the first 15 games, has shown some offensive firepower during the last 13 games, hitting .332 (156-for-470) over that span. All nine Spartan starters are hitting at least .300 during the span, with sophomore Jimmy Tanner leading the way at .413. Junior Phillip Morgan is hitting .370 with a homer and 10 RBIs. Senior Casey Rivers is hitting .356, Andrew Runion is hitting .351, freshman Keith Bisgounis is at .342 and freshman Blake Green and junior Kyle Simpson are hitting .333.
