Tuesday, February 7, 2006
WILLIAMS, BLANKS LEAD SPARTANS PAST BLUE HOSE
Spartanburg, S.C. – Brandon Williams pitched five innings of one-hit ball and Bradley Blanks struck out Cory Lyda with the tying run on third in the ninth as USC Upstate held on to defeat Presbyterian 3-2 on Tuesday afternoon at Harley Park.
The Spartans, winners of three straight, move to 3-1 overall. Presbyterian falls to 1-3. USC Upstate will travel to face Anderson on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m.
USC Upstate would score one run each in the first three innings of play. In the bottom of the first inning, Matt Goyea wrapped a two-out double to right-center, scoring Brad Wingo from second to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second inning, Andrew Runion scored from third on a wild pitch to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead. USC Upstate put their last run on the board in the bottom of the third when Runion drove in Bret Hansen from second on a single through the left side of the infield, giving the Spartans a 3-0 advantage.
Presbyterian would score two unearned runs in the top of the seventh inning. Clay Belton reached base on a two-out hit-by-a-pitch. Lyda followed by reaching base safely on a fielding error and moved to second base while Belton moved to third. Russell Robinson singled to left-field to drive in Belton and Lyda, cutting the USC Upstate lead to 3-2.
In the top of the ninth inning, pinch-hitter Kyle Craven reached on a one-out error, stole second, and moved to third on a fly ball to right with two outs. With the winning run just 90 feet away, Blanks got Lyda to strikeout swinging for the third out to end the game.
Williams (1-0) picked up the win for the Spartans while striking out seven batters. His seven strikeouts on the afternoon gives him 141 for his career and places him fifth on the all-time career strikeouts list. Blanks came on in the eighth inning and worked the final two innings to pick up his first save of the season. Presbyterian starter Ross Ellis (0-1) took the loss.
Goyea and Runion led the Spartans at the plate, each going 2-for-3 on the day. John Berrian and Robinson picked up the only two hits of the game for Presbyterian.