Spartans Take Series vs Asheville 2 to 1

USC Upstate returned to Harley Park on Friday evening to start a weekend rivalry set against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs on the heels of a three-game losing skid and a 2-4 swing dating back to the loss in the series finale against High Point 2 weeks ago.

The Spartans, who entered this weekend at 12-14 and 3-3 in the Big South, had their road trip get off to a dramatic start last Wednesday against the Charlotte 49ers. Maloy Heaghney got things started with a blast, clubbing a three run homer in the top of the 1st. However, with Kane Sweeney opting for a bullpen game, it did not take long for UNC Charlotte to strike back, breaking the goose egg with a 2 run shot that was the spark of an 8-0 run to take a huge lead to the third inning. Upstate chipped away with a 3-spot in the ensuing half inning with RBI doubles from Johnny Sweeney and Heaghney and a Trey Bentley run-scoring single in the 4th. The two sides traded blows the rest of the way with USC Upstate trailing 10-9 in the top of the ninth, Henry Zenor and Jake Armsey recorded back to back RBI knocks to put the Spartans on top, and Jacob Kirby was able to nail down his 2nd save of the season for an 11-10 win.

In the opener at Longwood last Friday night, late game drama was the story once again for USC Upstate. Chris Torres gave up a monster three run homer in the bottom of the first and an RBI sacrifice fly in the 2nd. But, despite the 4 earned runs on 4 hits with 6 walks, Torres settled down and struck out 6 as he grinded out 6 innings to help keep his team in position to chip away. Reece Hemmerling, Kirby, and Max Kaplan combined to toss a scoreless frame each while the bats finally got going in the top of the 5th.

With 2 out, Zenor singled in Kenan Bowman, who reached on a 1 out base hit of his own. Johnny Sweeney led off the 6th with a solo blast and Heaghney drew a bases loaded walk in the 7th to pull the Spartans within one. In the top of the ninth, with Longwood closer JR Fordham on the bump, who had not blown a save opportunity nor given up an earned run all season, Upstate struck for 2 on what would controversially be ruled a 2-base fielding error on the left fielder off the bat of Heaghney that plated pinch runners Trey Bentley and Alex Ritzer unearned. In the end, Upstate completed the 5-4 comeback, giving Kirby the win in relief and Kaplan the save.

The rest of the series would be characterized by a ton of offense. In game two, the Spartans, with Brent Stukes on the mound, once again found themselves in an early hole with the Lancers up 3-0 heading to the third inning. Stukes would end up turning in the longest start for any Upstate arm this season, going 7 innings and striking out a career-high 9 hitters. Upstate rallied to tie it at 4, and for the first time all season a game would be decided in extra innings. Unfortunately, Longwood would even the series with a walkoff RBI double off Max Eichenberger in the bottom of the 10th for a 5-4 victory.

Sunday was a slugfest with the Spartans jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and a Trey Bentley homer in the 3rd made it a 6-1 lead. But, things went south for Max Bianchini in his first start back from an injury that scratched him from his scheduled go in the finale against High Point. He ended up throwing just 2 and a third innings, giving up 4 earned on 6 hits. Things did not go any better for Kaplan out of the bullpen as he surrendered 7 runs (6 earned) on 6 hits in 2 and two-thirds. Andrew Kummer also gave up a run on 2 hits in 2.1 innings of work. The lone Spartan arm to hang a zero was Nathan Hook with 2 fly ball outs in two-thirds of an inning.

The offense helped to back up the pitching, fighting back from a 12-7 hole over the last three frames with one in the 7th, 2 in the 8th, and another in the ninth. But they came up a run short, dropping the series with a 12-11 loss.

The road trip wrapped on Tuesday in Knoxville as Upstate took on #20 Tennessee. The Spartans took the lead in the first and held it through to the 7th thanks to some stellar work from Hook, Jack Gibson, and Reece Hemmerling. The trio tossed 6 shutout frames before the Vols got on the board. Eichenberger gave up a 2 run single but was pulled off the hook when Bentley leveled the scale with an RBI 2-bagger. However, Tennessee would walk it off in the home half of the frame on a solo homer from Blake Grimmer.

Friday’s opener to the 2026 installment of the Ingles I-26 Rivalry Series was a wild one with a ton of offense. UNC Asheville came out swinging early and often on Torres, who would turn in his shortest outing of the year so far as well as the shortest for an Upstate starter, spanning just an inning and two-thirds. In the top of the first, a leadoff single and a double to right led to a 1 out RBI single. Jake Minarik would follow it with a big blow – a three run homer to make it 4-0 before Upstate ever came to the plate.

The Spartans would answer with a 3 run homer of their own, this one from Johnny Sweeney that followed a leadoff double from Zenor and a walk to Lang. That would be all the offense for USC Upstate until the bottom of the 6th. In the interim, UNC Asheville would open up a 7-run advantage, going up 10-3. After Torres’ 6 earned, Hook gave up a run on a sac fly in his two and a third innings, and Cayden Mackey surrendered 2 earned on 2 hits in 2 frames.

Juan Reyes and Jack Gibson managed to keep the Bulldogs off the board the rest of the way, which helped Upstate to mount a massive comeback. Back to back doubles from Trey Bentley and Clayton Campidilli in the 6th began the push. Wylie Waters came in to pinch hit for Preston Lucas in the 7th and crushed the first pitch he saw for a three run 2 out homer that cut the deficit to three runs. Zenor carried a two run shot over the right field fence following a 2 out fielding error that allowed Alex Ritzer to reach in the 8th, making it a 1-run game and setting the stage for USC Upstate’s first walkoff win of the season.

Johnny Sweeney got the home ninth started with a single, later erased on a fielder’s choice that allowed Heaghney to reach. Waters’ second plate appearance resulted in a walk to put him on as the winning run, later to be taken down for pinch runner Kenan Bowman. Jake Armsey finished it off with an opposite field 2-run double to the right center gap, giving Upstate the 11-10 win.

In game 2, Brent Stukes looked to build off the momentum of his last start while also breaking the trend of Upstate having to play catch up early on in games. He got into some early trouble, struggling to find the zone and walking each of the first two UNC Asheville batters. However, Stukes managed to keep them off the board thanks to some more solid defense. A soft liner to the right center gap was run down by Zenor on which the lead runner tagged and went to 3rd, but he would be left there as the next man up lined sharply to Armsey at third, who threw across to double off the runner at first to retire the side and hang a zero.

For the 2nd straight game, the Spartans would strike for a big blow in the bottom of the 1st. After a leadoff walk to Zenor and a 1 out single from Sweeney, Tyler Lang lofted a no-doubter out of left for a three run shot to give Stukes a lead going to the 2nd.

Asheville cracked the scoreboard in the ensuing half inning with back to back 1 out doubles, but after a 2 out walk, Stukes got a called strike three for his first K of the day to leave men on the corners. The Spartans got it back in the home half of the frame after back to back infield singles. Zenor lined a sharp grounder 100 MPH off the bat that the 1B could not corral and Trey Bentley followed it with a ground ball deep in the 4 hole. He had long beaten any chance at a throw, but the 2B tossed it over anyway, going high over the head of the first baseman and towards the dugout to score Zenor and advance Bentley to 2nd. Sweeney went down swinging to end the inning with USC Upstate leading 4-1 heading to the third.

From there, both Stukes and UNC Asheville starter Cooper Smith settled in. Upstate went down in order in both the 3rd and 4th frames while Stukes kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in spite of 5 walks and 4 hits through his 5 innings of work. After the Spartans struck for a 3-spot on Bulldog reliever Ryland Howell to extend the lead to 7-1, Max Bianchini came on and worked 2 scoreless, surrendering just one base runner on a single

In between, Upstate added another run on a bases loaded walk to Lang with 2 out in the 6th and blew the game wide open in the bottom of the 7th on a grand slam from Zenor. That same inning, the Spartans batted around, scoring one more on an RBI infield knock from Armsey, making for a 13-1 advantage heading to the 8th. Ben Chuttey added to the streak of goose eggs on the board, tossing a scoreless frame with a walk and a strikeout to set the stage for USC Upstate to add on again, this time cashing in a leadoff double from Waters with a 1 out throwing error on the 3rd baseman, making for the final 14-1 margin as Jack Morris struck out two in a shutout ninth despite a leadoff walk and a single back to back to clinch the series for USC Upstate.

Sunday, Reece Hemmerling got the nod on the hill from Kane Sweeney – marking the first start of his Upstate career, as the Spartans looked to complete their first sweep in Big South Conference play. It started off a little rocky for the Canadian as he plunked the leadoff man. After a flyout and a pickoff, Hemmerling surrendered consecutive singles, and after a stolen base, escaped the jam with a fly ball to right.

For the first time all weekend, neither team was able to score in the first inning as Upstate squandered a 1 out Trey Bentley single and stolen base in the home half of the frame. But, after a 3 up 3 down 2nd for Hemmerling, the Spartans struck in the bottom of the inning, cashing in a leadoff double from Maloy Heaghney when Jake Armsey followed with a no doubt 2-run line shot out of left. Wylie Waters was beaned with one down and Alex Ritzer singled on the infield, but back to back fly balls to left kept the Spartans from doing any further damage.

Hemmerling would work one more frame, getting around a 1 out walk by inducing a pair of flyouts of his own. He tossed 3 shutout innings with a walk, 2 hits, and no strikeouts. Upstate threatened again in the bottom of the third when Heaghney walked with 2 out and later stole 2nd. Armsey then hit a slow dribbler right to the third baseman that he could not corral. With the slowness to back up the play, Armsey took 2 bases on the error, but it was all for naught as Preston Lucas went down swinging to end the inning.

Jacob Kirby came on to start the 4th in relief of Hemmerling, but things went a bit south for the ordinarily ice-veined reliever. With one out, he gave up a single, threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt, and hit a batter. After getting the 2nd out of the inning on a line drive to center, a ground ball up the middle that could have been a force play to get out of the inning was thrown high and late trying to go 4-6, resulting in the bases being juiced. Asheville made the Spartans pay for that as McGinnis hit a grand slam to give the Bulldogs their first lead since before the last pitch of the opener on Friday night.

The Spartans would get one back on a 1 out solo shot to left from Lang that tied him with Johnny Sweeney for the team lead in homers. Heaghney followed it with a double down the right field line all the way to the corner, but ultimately be left on third after a strikeout, a walk to Preston Lucas, and a fielder’s choice where Lucas was forced out 6-4 following a diving stop by the shortstop. Asheville would take that run right back when a leadoff walk and a hit and run single back to back led to an RBI groundout to third. That ended the day for Kirby after two and a third innings, giving way to Andrew Kummer, who got out of the inning in spite of a single.

Kummer tossed an inning and two thirds scoreless in total, and gave way to Max Kaplan who also kept the Bulldogs off the board with just a single given up in an inning and a third. But, unfortunately for the Spartans, the offense was not able to come through with a clutch hit the rest of the way off Asheville’s Matthew Hall. The Spartans went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position over the last 4 innings, in the end falling 5-3 to drop the finale and once again find themselves unable to finish off a series sweep.

Upstate is now 14-15 overall and 5-4 in conference play as they prepare for another long road trip to Virginia. In midweek, the Spartans will face George Mason with a 3:00 first pitch before heading to Radford for a three-game Easter Weekend set starting Thursday at 6:00, continuing Friday at 4, and wrapping up Saturday at 4:00. In the following midweek, Upstate will wrap up the road swing at Western Carolina with a 5:00 start time on Tuesday night before returning to Harley Park for a series with Charleston Southern.