#3 USC Upstate Pulls Away from #6 Longwood, 11-8

#3 USC Upstate Pulls Away from #6 Longwood, 11-8

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By USC Upstate Athletics

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Beginning its quest for a repeat Big South Conference Tournament Title, No. 3 seed USC Upstate baseball took an important first step Wednesday evening, defeating No. 6 seed Longwood 11-8 at HomeTrust Field in Asheville, N.C. The win extended the Spartans' winning streak at the Big South Baseball Championship to four, dating back to their run last season.

Jumpstarting the Spartans' double-digit scoring effort, redshirt sophomore rightfielder Henry Zenor launched the first pitch of the Upstate first well past the 36-foot wall in rightfield, his seventh long ball of the campaign. He was not the only Spartan to crush a momentous home run as redshirt freshman centerfielder Trey Bentley capped his career day with a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning.

Bentley's grand slam closed a four-hit evening with four RBI, career-high totals in both categories. He finished the evening a triple shy of the cycle, adding three runs scored.

Joining Bentley with a multi-hit and multi-RBI game, senior leftfielder Preston Lucas collected a pair of hits and a pair of RBI. Eight of the nine Spartans in the lineup closed the night with at least one base hit.

Not to be outdone by the offense, Upstate's pitching staff combined for 12 strikeouts, the staff's 10th double-digit strikeout game of the season. Junior left-handed pitcher Chris Torres headlined the night, punching out nine hitters—against one walk—over 5.2 innings of work. Out of the bullpen, redshirt junior right-hander Max Bianchini struck out one in a scoreless 1.1 innings. Closing things out, redshirt freshman righty Jacob Kirby struck out two over 2.0 innings of work.

How It Happened
  • B1: Jumping on the first pitch of the home half of the first, Upstate's Henry Zenor deposited the pitch over the 36-foot-tall wall in rightfield, his third career home run at the Big South Baseball Championship.
  • T3: Taking advantage of a leadoff double, Longwood employed a sac bunt from Mac Tufts and a bloop single into center from Ben Pulliam to tie the game.
  • T4: Putting pressure on the Upstate defense with a pair of bunts in the inning, the Lancers—also taking advantage of a Spartan error—gained the lead behind a Bentley Yeatts sac fly into the rightfield corner.
  • B4: Employing a tactic similar to that of the Lancers, Upstate capitalized on an error on a sac bunt attempt to scratch a run, tying the game on the overthrow. Delivering the Spartans the advantage once again, Preston Lucas dumped a single into left-center, plating two.
  • T5: Trimming the Upstate lead, Longwood's Jon Howard hit a solo shot to center for the Lancers' third tally of the evening.
  • B5: Answering the Lancer run, Upstate, for the second straight inning, responded with three runs of its own. Jake Armsey fired a single through the drawn-in infield, driving home two to get the frame started. He'd later score on an RBI single ripped through the left side by Wylie Waters.
  • T6: Providing its response to Upstate's three-spot, Longwood struck for four tallies in the sixth. The first scored on a fielder's choice before run-producing doubles from Jae'den Carter and Pulliam (two-run double) plated the next three runs.
  • B6: Crushing the first pitch of his at-bat deep into the Asheville night, Trey Bentley put four on the board with a grand slam to right.
  • T8: Cutting their deficit, the Lancers plated a run on a Howard double into the leftfield corner.
Notable
  • Gunning down a runner at the plate in the first inning, Trey Bentley secured Upstate's 10th outfield assist of the season, the first since Bentley's assist versus Longwood on March 22. Adding another in the sixth inning, Bentley is the first Spartan this season with multiple outfield assists in the same contest.
  • Wednesday's game marks the first since April 26, 2024, to feature multiple outfield assists from the Spartans. In that contest, Koby Kropf and Daniel Gernon each notched an outfield assist.
  • Homering in the first inning, Henry Zenor extended Upstate's streak of consecutive games with a home run at the Big South Baseball Championship to four. En route to last season's Big South Tournament Title, the Spartans homered nine times across three games.
  • Racking up a season-high nine strikeouts over 5.2 innings of work Wednesday, Chris Torres tied Upstate's Big South Tournament record for single-game strikeouts. He equalled the total of Trey Van Der Weide (5.2 innings) versus Charleston Southern on May 21, 2019.
  • Drawing three HBP Wednesday, Johnny Sweeney tied the program's single-game HBP record for the second time this season, the first player in program history to accomplish the feat twice. He joins himself (Feb. 13, 2026 vs. South Alabama), Scott Campbell (March 12, 2025, vs. Stetson), J.D. Brock (March 19, 2023, vs. Princeton), Noah Sullivan (March 14, 2023, vs. The Citadel), Brad Wingo (Feb. 2, 2006, vs. Pfeiffer), and Brian Discordia (Feb. 12, 2005, vs. USC Aiken) with the record.
  • Running its winning streak to seven games, the Spartans' current winning streak marks the longest under head coach Kane Sweeney. The streak breaks a tie with a three six-game streaks from last season.
  • Upstate's latest win is the team's 30th of the season, improving its streak of 30-plus win seasons to six, the longest stretch in program history.
Up Next for the Spartans
Continuing play at the Big South Baseball Championship, Upstate returns to action Thursday at 3 p.m. against No. 2 Winthrop.