SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team dropped the rubber match of a three-game non-conference weekend set 18-13 against the USC Upstate Spartans on Saturday afternoon at Harley Park.

UNCG, which led 11-2 after two and a half innings, surrendered 16 unanswered runs before scoring twice in the ninth inning. USC Upstate scored the eventual game-winning run during an eight-run bottom of the eighth.

After Brantley Truitt hit a one-out single through the right side in the first inning, UNCG got on the board first when Jacob Dilley launched a two-run homer out to left to make it 2-0 after one stanza.

Jeremy Wolf then piled on four more runs in the second inning when he doubled down the line in left to clear the bases for three runs before scoring on a passed ball to make it 6-0. Dilley then returned to the box for his second at-bat two batters later and sent his second home run of the afternoon out to left-center, making it 7-0 after two frames.

USC Upstate got on the board in the bottom half of the second inning with a two-run home run down the left-field line to cut UNCG's lead to 7-2. However, UNCG quickly got the runs back and then some when Truitt doubled to the alley in right-center to score three more runs and make it 10-2. Truitt then scored to make it 11-2 when he scrambled home and slid head-first under a tag at the plate following a chopper hit to third by Case Kermode.

A walk to Vance Sheahan and then back-to-back singles from Scott Newman and then Johnny Sweeney was enough to score a run for USC Upstate in the third. Newman then scored on a single up the middle by Waters. Sweeney scored two batters later when Gage Griggs reached on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded. UNCG found the third out and got out of the bases-loaded jam in the third while still grasping an 11-5 lead.

The sixth frame saw USC Upstate climb back into the fight and cut the deficit to two, 11-9. The first run scored on a sacrifice fly hit to center by Sweeney to score Jack Austin. Scott Campbell hit a three-run home run to left-center in the next at-bat, which shaved UNCG's lead down to just a pair, 11-9.

In the seventh inning, Sheahan doubled to right-center to score Henry Zenor from first and make it an 11-10 game.

USC Upstate completed its comeback in the eighth inning with three runs on three hits. Griggs tied the game, 11-11, when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Two batters later, Preston Lucas lofted a single through the right side to score two more runs and give USC Upstate its first lead, 13-11. Sheahan then tripled into the left-field corner to clear the bases and plate three more runs, making it 16-11. Newman made it 17-11 when he bounced a single over UNCG's second baseman and into the outfield to score Sheahan. Waters hit into a fielder's choice to score one more run when Newman crossed the plate, 18-11.

JJ Parsons hit a two-run home run to center in the ninth, but it was all UNCG could manage in the series finale as it dropped the series finale to USC Upstate, 18-13.

PITCHING RECORDS:
Max Kaplan: W, 3-1
Hunter Shuey: L, 1-4

NOTES:

• Dilley's two homers doubled his career total and marked his first multi-home run game.
• Wolf, Truitt and Dilley each had three RBI.
• Truit and Pokorak each had a four-hit day.
• Parsons hit his second career homer and led the team with three runs scored.
• UNCG tossed nine different pitchers in the contest.
• UNCG led the game in extra-base hits, 6-4.
• Both sides had two stolen bases.

RECORDS:
UNCG: 18-21, 7-2 SoCon
USC Upstate: 21-19, 8-4 Big South

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UP NEXT
UNCG returns to UNCG Baseball Stadium to play against the Campbell Camels on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. before taking on the Mercer Bears in Macon, Georgia, to return to SoCon action next weekend from April 25-27.