SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team was unable to overcome a late offensive burst in the final innings as the host USC Upstate opened the weekend series with an 8-1 victory on Friday night at Harley Park.
FINAL SCORE: USC Upstate 8, Presbyterian 1
LOCATION: Cleveland S. Harley Park (Spartanburg, S.C.)
RECORDS: Presbyterian (12-15, 11-10 Big South) | USC Upstate (28-9, 19-9 Big South)
W: Jordan Marks (8-1) | L: Charlie McDaniel (3-1) | Save: Kevin Davis (6)
NOTABLES
- Kyle Merkle and David Sweat paced the Blue Hose offense with two hits apiece as Merkle connected on his fourth double of the season in the sixth to score the lone Blue Hose run on Friday.
- Eric Toth connected on his team-high sixth double to extend his reached base streak to nine consecutive games.
- Zacchaeus Rasberry, with his base hit on Friday, extended his hit streak to six straight games.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Merkle got the Blue Hose on the board first in the sixth with a two out RBI double to get out in front by the count of 1-0.
- Upstate connected on a pair of RBI singles in the seventh to jump ahead of the Blue Hose 2-1 before a two-run single extended the advantage to 4-1.
- The hosts pushed the lead to 5-1 with an RBI single.
- The Spartans added three in the eighth to finish off the 8-1 victory on Friday night.
UP NEXT
- The two teams are then slated to play a twin bill tomorrow afternoon beginning at 2 p.m. from Harley Park on ESPN+.
