April 10, 2008
Friday Gametracker | Saturday Gametracker (Game One) | Saturday Gametracker (Game Two)
Complete Kennesaw State Game Notes in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - When both programs were members of the Division II Peach Belt Conference from 1995 to 2005, Kennesaw State was one of the best baseball programs in the NCAA, winning a Division II national title in 1996. USC Upstate was building itself into a regional power, winning 33 games in 2005, the last before KSU made the leap to Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference. Reunited two years later, the Spartans and Owls are third and fourth in the conference standings heading into this weekend's Atlantic Sun Conference series, with both teams looking to break away from the pack.
The two teams are familiar rivals and head coaches Matt Fincher of Upstate and Mike Sansing of Kennesaw are close friends. Kennesaw leads the Spartans, 31-6 in the all-time series, but all four times that Fincher's clubs beat Sansing's, it was a major upset, with the largest coming on March 28, 2003 when the then-Rifles took out the top-ranked Owls, 8-7, at Duncan Park. Jim Kais scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth for the walkoff win.
The March For 250
Head coach Matt Fincher enters the weekend one shy of career win 250. Already the winningest coach in school history, entering the year with 232 wins in 10 years in 1998, Fincher has totally rebuilt the Upstate baseball program. From a club that won 13 games in his first year, Fincher has led the Spartans to six straight 20-win seasons and three straight 30-win seasons. Along the way, Fincher racked up 48 wins against teams ranked in Division II and two wins against teams at the top of the Division II poll. In the Spartans' last year of Division II play, Upstate won 10 games against ranked teams and rose as high as 18th in DII polls.
Mighty Matt
Sophomore pitcher Matt Branham became the first USC Upstate baseball player to earn an honor from the Atlantic Sun Conference, as the conference office announced Monday that Branham has earned A-Sun Pitcher of the Week honors after his dominating complete game at Gardner-Webb on Sunday.
Branham pitched his first career nine-inning complete game, allowing six hits and one run while striking out 10 to lead the Upstate to a 2-1 win in the first game of a doubleheader at Gardner-Webb. He was dominating in his start, throwing a career-high nine innings and striking out a career-high 10. He had thrown eight innings three times in his career and he surpassed his previous best of seven strikeouts against Tusculum on Feb. 14, 2007 in his second career start. Branham, who is now 4-2 on the year, walked two and hit one batter and three Upstate errors helped runners reach in six innings, but Gardner-Webb only got to third base three times. After the sixth, no runner got past first and he capped the game with a strikeout on a devastating hook with his 131st pitch of the game.
Projecting A Tough Road Ahead
In Baseball America's projected NCAA Field of 64, the USC Upstate baseball team has three opponents and five games scheduled, beginning with South Carolina, a projected No. 1 seed, on Tuesday. Lipscomb, who comes to Harley Park next weekend, is the projected A-Sun Conference champion and a No. 4 seed in the bracket and Charlotte, who Upstate travels to on April 23, is the projected Atlantic 10 Conference champion and a No. 3 seed. Upstate fell, 9-4, to Charlotte on Feb. 27 at Harley Park.
Andrew's Artillery
Senior Andrew Runion has been at the heart of the Upstate lineup for three years and now, as a senior, he is enjoying some of the finest power numbers of his career. Ironically, the competition has stepped up on the 5-11 Simpsonville, S.C., native as Upstate has moved to Division I from Division II. Still, he is slugging a career-high .582 and his seven homers are already a career-high, surpassing his previous best of four. He has made an impact among the best in the Atlantic Sun Conference, entering the weekend tied for fifth in homers and seventh in total bases (78).
Bowley's Bat
Senior Kyle Bowley struggled mightily at the plate through the first month of the season, hitting .189 through his first 37 at bats. Since then, though, the corner infielder has been on fire, going 14-for-28 (.500) in his last eight games with five runs and seven RBIs. He has entered the school's top 10 in career runs and moved up to third in career RBIs in that stretch. The Co-Peach Belt Freshman of the Year in 2004, Bowley is currently hitting .323 (21-for-65) with 10 runs and 10 RBIs in 19 games.
Reed's Deeds
With junior Phillip Morgan out for a week and a half with stitches on his left hand, redshirt freshman Reed Lishen is making the most out of his opportunity. In his first collegiate game, the Royal Palm Beach, Fla., native went 1-for-3 with a single through the left side. In his third, he notched a two-out, two-strike single through the right side to score two runs and lead the Spartans to a 5-4 win over High Point. He added two more hits and an RBI against Appalachian State. Lishen is hitting .353 (6-for-17) with four RBIs in five games.
