March 18, 2008

Final Stats

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - A seemingly effortless 70-pitch, six-innings worth of work by freshman Robert Stegbauer (Hillsboro, Ohio/Lynchburg-Clay) and six late-inning runs helped pace the USC Upstate baseball team to its fourth straight win, 6-4, over UNC Asheville in non-conference action on Tuesday night at Harley Park.

Stegbauer (1-2) picked up his first collegiate win as he tossed six innings of work, allowing seven hits, a walk and an unearned run. He struck out none, but impressively forced nine groundouts and eight groundouts and let a solid Spartan defense do the work for him. His ERA dropped from 8.40 to 6.00 as he recovered from the worst start of his career last week at Georgia Southern, where he allowed seven runs.

Stegbauer worked on cruise control for much of the game, letting just one runner reach third base, in the fourth inning. The Spartan defense, meanwhile, was stalwart, with freshman A.J. Clark (Colorado Springs, Colo./Colorado Springs Christian) making several dazzling plays including fielding a short hop on a hard-hit liner with runners on first and second and no outs in the third. He stepped on third and tossed to first to complete the double play. On the next play, senior Mike Colecchi (Oxford, Mass./Quinsigmond C.C.) tracked down a fly ball on the warning track with a nice overhead running catch just before reaching the wall.

Still, it was the Bulldogs (8-11 overall) that drew first blood in the sixth inning, as the Spartan defense finally bent. A throwing error and a single helped put runners on first and second and a throw into left field on a stolen base attempt helped Asheville take a 1-0 lead.

Upstate answered right back in the bottom of the inning, as junior Eric Guillen (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks) started the rally with a single up the middle. After a sac bunt, senior Casey Rivers (Hudson, Mass./Hudson) tied the game with a double to the right-center field gap and senior Andrew Runion (Simpsonville, S.C./Mauldin) followed with his own double to right-center to give Upstate the lead. Junior Phillip Morgan (Campobello, S.C./Spartanburg Methodist College) hit an opposite-field liner for a single to move Runion to third and sophomore Jimmy Tanner (Fayetteville, Ga./Stars Mill) followed with a bunt single to load the bases. Clark delivered the big blow with another opposite field single to right-center to score two runs and give Upstate a 4-1 lead.

The Spartans added two more runs in the seventh inning, as Guillen again started the rally with a single to right center. Freshman Blake Green (Rock Hill, S.C./Northwestern) added his third bunt single of the year and a sacrifice moved the runners to second and third, setting up Runion, who delivered a single through the left side for two runs.

Junior Dennis McCraney (Catawba, S.C./Rock Hill) pitched two scoreless innings, but ran into trouble with two outs in the ninth, as two walks helped load the bases and forced him from the game. Sophomore Tyler Oliver (Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill) entered the game and gave-up a three-run double to Justin Schumer, but got the next batter to ground out for his first collegiate save.

Runion led the Spartans, going 3-for-4 with a run and three RBIs. His double in the sixth inning was the 42nd of his career, moving him into second place in the Upstate career record book where he is tied with Jason Westbrook (1993-95).

Clark also went 2-for-4 as he extended his hitting streak to seven games. He drove in two. Guillen went 2-for-4 with two runs and Tanner also went 2-for-4.

Schumer (0-2) took the loss for Asheville, allowing eight hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out three. Schumer also led the Bulldogs at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a run and three RBIs and Brett Robinson also went 2-for-5.

The Spartans are 9-5 in the series history with Asheville and a perfect 6-0 in Spartanburg. This was the first game between the two schools since April 4, 1995, when the then-USC Spartanburg Rifles beat Asheville, 20-11, in Asheville.

The Spartans now head to No. 12 South Carolina for their first game with a Division I-ranked opponent. First pitch at Sarge Frye Field is 7 p.m. on Wednesday.