USC Upstate falls to Kentucky 7-3 in NCAA Regional; Spartans close season 36-25
CLEMSON, S.C. (USC Upstate SID) – Staying true to its identity until the final out, USC Upstate baseball showed its blue-collar, hard-working nature as it fought to stay alive in the program's first-ever NCAA Regional in an elimination game against (RV) Kentucky. The Spartans battled back from an early deficit to tie the game before seeing the Wildcats eventually pull away in a 7-3 decision Saturday afternoon. Not letting a three-run, first-inning deficit deter it, Upstate provided its answer in the fourth frame, using a similar recipe to how Clemson erased a deficit Friday evening. Stepping to the plate with the bases loaded, junior catcher Preston Lucas found the grass in the left-center gap, driving home a pair with his 19th double of the year, drawing the Spartans within a run. Junior second baseman Gage Griggs chased the two-bagger with a sac fly to center, knotting the game at three-all. Setting the Spartans up for their comeback, sophomore left-handed pitcher Chris Torres turned in 5.0 innings of work, settling in to hold the Wildcats off the board from the second to the fifth. He finished with three strikeouts, helping Upstate to hit the 500-strikeout mark on the year with sophomore right-hander Darin Kuskie and redshirt sophomore righty Max Bianchini racking up a pair apiece. Game InformationScore: (RV) Kentucky 7; USC Upstate 3Records: USC Upstate (36-25); Kentucky (30-25)Location: Doug Kingsmore Stadium | Clemson, S.C. How It Happened
B1: Driving the first pitch he saw, Kentucky's Carson Hansen began the day's scoring with a three-run homer into the seats in left-center.
T4: Using a similar recipe to how Clemson tied last evening's game, USC Upstate used a double and sac fly to begin the game anew. Hitting the gap in left-center with the bases juiced, Preston Lucas plated two before a sac fly to center from Gage Griggs tied the game.
B6: Employing a squeeze with runners on the corners, Patrick Herrera's sac bunt pushed the Wildcats back to the lead.
B8: Adding some insurance, Kentucky scratched three runs in the eighth behind an RBI single from Cole Hage and a two-run single from Hudson Brown.
Notable
With a double down the leftfield line in the fourth inning, Vance Sheahan extended his Division I era (2007-pres.) record reached base streak to 48 games.
Playing in today's game, Sheahan is also the only player in program history to play in 61 games during a single season, having started each game this season. The Spartans' game versus Kentucky marked the program's single-season record 61st game of the 2025 campaign.
Opening his outing with a strikeout in the sixth inning, Darin Kuskie recorded the Spartans' 500th strikeout of the season, hitting the mark as a team for the second straight season. Upstate finished the year with 503 strikeouts, the second-most in a single season in program history behind last year's 510 punchouts.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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