Baseball | 4/22/2022 11:11:00 AM

North Carolina A&T (12-23, 1-11 Big South) vs. USC Upstate (22-16, 10-5 Big South)
Date: Friday, April 22 – Sunday, April 24 
Time(s): 6 p.m.; 2 p.m.; 1 p.m.
 Facility: Harley Park (Spartanburg, S.C.) 

A&T Batting Leaders
 Batting Average: Anthony Hennings (.383)
 Home Runs: Cort Maynard (8)
 Doubles: Hennings (11)
 Triples: Canyon Brown (2)
 RBI: Maynard (27)
Slugging Percentage: Hennings (.489)
On-Base Percentage: Hennings (.421) 

A&T Pitching Leaders 
ERA: Jake Delisi (3.37) 
Strikeouts: Peyton Winebarger (51) 
Innings Pitched: Winebarger (44.2) 
Saves: Evan Demurias (2) 

 A&T Big South Leaders (Top-25) 
Batting Average: Hennings (.383) – 1st; Bussey (.333) – 12th 
Home Runs: Maynard (8) –3rd 
Doubles: Hennings (11) – 5th; Maynard (9) – 13th; Alec Seaton (9) – 20th 
RBI: Maynard (27) –13th 
Slugging Percentage: Hennings (.489) – 18th; Maynard (.485) – 19th 
On-Base Percentage: Hennings (.421) – 17th; Cameran Brantley (.410) – 23rd 

A&T National Leaders (Top-100) 
Base on Balls: Brantley (31) – 43rd 
Hit by Pitch: Maynard (16) – 10th 

PROBABLE ROTATION:   
RHP Jake Delisi (0-2, 3.37 ERA, 26.2 IP, 16 K) 
LHP Peyton Winebarger (2-4, 5.44 ERA, 44.2, 51 K) 
TBA 

RECENT HISTORY: These two teams have played eight times since 2011, with USC Upstate winning six matchups. A&T's last win came on March 27, 2018, in a 6-1 triumph. The last time the Aggies and the Spartans met occurred on April 10, 2019, a 2-1 win for the Spartans at War Memorial Stadium. The Aggies are 0-4 in Spartanburg. 

AGGIES OVERVIEW: The Aggies are on a four-game losing streak, suffering a sweep to the Campbell Fighting Camels last weekend before dropping a midweek contest to crosstown rival UNC Greensboro. 

Opponents have outscored the Aggies 30-2 in the last two games because of a lack of arms in the Aggies bullpen. Left-handed junior Daniel Carter, who had been the Friday starter this year for the Aggies, has not appeared since April 8 against UNC Asheville. 

Similarly, sophomore right-hand reliever Isaiah Brewington has not appeared since April 10 against the UNCA. The absences have led to the Aggies having a Big South-worst 9.17 ERA in league play. 

Hennings has been a bright spot offensively, leading the conference in batting average. The re-emergence of sophomore Chet Sikes will help also. He is batting .323 with two doubles, a home run and 10 RBI in eight games. 

Head coach Ben Hall is in his eighth year at A&T and has a 153-215 (.419) record with a Mid-Eastern Athletic Championship (MEAC) to his credit in 2018. 

SPARTANS OVERVIEW:  The Spartans split their two midweek games this week, losing an extra-inning affair to the College of Charleston on Tuesday before a rare non-conference bout with Gardner-Webb, a 12-5 win. 

Projected to finish second in the league's preseason poll as voted on by its head coaches, the Spartans find themselves in that spot with a 10-5 conference record. 

Freshman infielder Noah Sullivan leads the Upstate bats with a .354 average and is coming off his most impressive performance thus far, going 3-for-5 with two home runs and six RBI in Wednesday's win over the Runnin' Bulldogs. 

Fifth-year infielder Devin Buckner boasts a team-high five home runs this year. He is tied with sophomore infielder Noah Rabon for a squad-best 35 RBI. The Spartans have four players with 30-plus RBI this season, and they lead the Big South in team batting average at .296. 

As for their arms, Upstate has seven throwers with a sub-5.00 ERA, led by freshman lefty Christian Williams's 3.07 mark. In addition, projected Saturday starter and graduate right-hander Austin Morgan holds a team-best 40 strikeouts in 2022. 

The Spartans are fourth in the Big South with a collective 6.06 ERA as a staff. 

Head coach Mike McGuire is in his third year at USC Upstate and has a 72-37 record.