SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? USC Upstate plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take its first lead of the game and then held off Presbyterian College in the ninth inning, defeating the Blue Hose 7-6 on Wednesday evening at Harley Park.
PC had held a 5-4 lead entering the bottom of the seventh. Overall in the game, PC had 10 hits, while USC Upstate had 12 in the contest.
The Blue Hose were led in the game by sophomore Robbie Anders (Greenville, S.C.), who had a team-best three hits in the game. Anders was 3-for-5 from the plate overall. He scored one run in the contest.
Kyle Craven (Savannah, Ga.) was the only other Blue Hose to finish with multiple hits in the game. He was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
USC Upstate was led in its victory by Jimmy Tanner and Keith Bisgounis, who both had a game-high tying three hits in the game.
Eric Tatum (Buford, Ga.) came in the contest in relief of PC starting pitcher Mitchell Odom (Oconee, Ga.). Tatum pitched two and two-thirds of an inning in relief of Odom and was given the loss.
Odom struck out five USC Upstate batters in his four innings on the mound for PC in the contest.
USC Upstate's Dennis McCraney was awarded the win for the Spartans on the hill in relief of starter Robert Stegbauer. McCraney hurled three innings and fanned three.
The Blue Hose opened the contest by scoring the first four runs of the game in the top of the first inning. Anders got things rolling when he doubled to center field to place runners on first and second for PC. Cory Lyda (Simpsonville, S.C.) had started the frame for PC by being walked by Stegbauer.
Craven then doubled to center field to bring in Lyda and Anders and give PC the very early 2-0 advantage.
A couple batters later William Bolchoz (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) singled through the left side to place two more PC runs on the scoreboard. The single by Bolchoz not only gave PC a 4-0 lead, but it extended Bolchoz's hitting streak to seven games.
USC Upstate scored one in the bottom of the third inning to pull the Spartans to within three runs, but PC added another in the top of the fifth to take a 5-1 lead.
Bolchoz once again came through for PC to claim the run in the fifth inning when he sacrificed to center field to bring in Craven, who had started the inning by being hit by a pitch.
The Spartans then plated three in the bottom half of the frame to cut the lead to one at 5-4. Two innings later they added three to take the lead.
The Blue Hose mounted a rally in the top ninth inning by scoring one run, but it would not be enough. Jared Combs (Pooler, Ga.) brought in the run for PC when he singled to right field to plate Preston Simpson (Lancaster, S.C.), who had come in to pinch hit in the inning for Jesse Harmon (Newberry, S.C.).
The two teams will now take the two-game home and home series to Clinton on Thursday, March 27. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the PC Baseball Complex.
