Four-run ninth sparks USC Upstate comeback win

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – With its chances at a conference championship and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big South Conference Tournament within grasp, USC Upstate baseball fought to keep itself in its advantageous position heading into the final day of the regular season, battling back for its first win when trailing entering the ninth inning. The Spartans, using four runs in their final frame, earned the 7-5 come-from-behind victory over UNC Asheville Friday afternoon at Greenwood Baseball Field, securing the series win.

Entering the ninth inning trailing by two, the Spartans didn’t wither, even when down to their final out, scoring their final three runs with two outs. Nullifying the insurance run scored by UNC Asheville in the eighth, Upstate’s first tally crossed on a balk from Bulldog relief pitcher Matthew Hall. Down to the team’s final strike, redshirt sophomore centerfielder Scott Newman used a sinking line drive into center to tie the game.

Splitting the left-center gap, junior catcher Preston Lucas notched the go-ahead RBI as his double drove home Newman. Adding a run of insurance in favor of the Spartans, junior second baseman Gage Griggs fired his own two-out double down the rightfield line, plating Lucas.

Putting the Spartans in a position to complete their comeback, sophomore right-handed pitcher Cooper Ellingworth and redshirt sophomore righty Max Bianchini combined for 7.0 innings of work out of the bullpen. The duo limited UNC Asheville to four hits and one run while striking out five. Bianchini picked up the win, his fifth of the season.

How It Happened

• B1: Doubling its hit total from last evening’s game in the first inning, UNC Asheville struck first with a pair of runs in the frame behind an RBI double shot down the rightfield line by Patrick Gillen and a slow rolling RBI single from Blaize Johnson.
• T2: Taking advantage of the opportunity to put runners in motion on 3-2 counts with two outs, Upstate tied the ball game with two tallies in the second. Shooting a 3-2 pitch into leftfield, Alex Ritzer scored a running Gage Griggs before a Bulldog error allowed Jake Armsey to score.
• B2: Doubling off the wall in left, Rylen Stockton drove home two, tilting the advantage toward UNC Asheville and building another two-run deficit for the Spartans.
• T4: Batting with the bases loaded, Henry Zenor lifted a fly ball into deep left-center, allowing Preston Lucas to tag and score, cutting the Bulldog lead.
• B8: With runners on the corners and one out, UNC Asheville utilized a squeeze play to pick up an insurance run with Corbin Lanowitz pushing across the tally.
• T9: Fighting their way back to take the lead for the first time, the Spartans scratched four runs in the ninth. A balk from the Bulldog reliever plated the first tally before a Scott Newman single to center drove home Scott Campbell to tie the game. Delivering the lead and some insurance, back-to-back doubles from Preston Lucas and Griggs led to two Upstate runs.

Notable

• Using a four-run ninth inning, Upstate earned its first win of the 2025 campaign when trailing following the eighth inning. The win broke a 0-19 mark in such occurrences this season.
• Reaching safely Friday with a seventh-inning single, Vance Sheahan improved his reached base streak to 42 games, the longest-known reached base streak in the program’s Division I era (2007-pres.).