SPARTANBURG, S.C. – An early deficit proved too much for the North Carolina A&T baseball team as they dropped their series opener to the USC Upstate Spartans, 12-7, on Friday night inside Harley Park in Big South Conference play.
Left-handed junior Peyton Winebarger (L, 2-5) made his first Friday start of the season, but after just two innings, the Spartans (23-16, 11-5) found themselves up 7-0.
Back-to-back home runs from Noah Rabon and Troy Hamilton highlighted the first inning as the Spartans quickly went ahead 4-0.
In the second inning, with the bases loaded, Noah Sullivan smacked a fly ball into center field deep enough to score Noah Myers from third. However, the throw back in was errant, allowing the bases to clear, making it 7-0.
The Aggies (12-24, 1-12) finally got their bats going in the fifth.
With runners at the corners and two outs, sophomore Camden Jackson began a string of three straight hits with an RBI single to center field, scoring Cameran Brantley from third and advancing Cort Maynard to third.
Sophomore Chet Sikes followed Jackson with a single up the middle to score Maynard and move Jackson to second. Finally, junior Bret Mersman sliced a single down the right field line to score Jackson from second to cut the deficit to five, 8-3.
Upstate padded their advantage with four more runs in the seventh.
Rabon led off with a single to open the frame. He attempted to steal second, and freshman catcher Canyon Brown threw the ball over second baseman Alec Seaton, trying to catch him, allowing Rabon to move to third.
Hamilton walked and stole second to put two runners in scoring position.
Grant Sherrod singled up the middle to score Rabon from third, and two batters later, Adam Grob smoked a two-run blast over the left field wall to extend their lead to 12-3.
A&T gave their best comeback effort in the ninth, plating four runs on five hits, but ultimately fell short. Junior Anthony Hennings and Brown tallied a team-high three hits to lead the way offensively, while Jackson accrued two RBI.
For Upstate, Rabon went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and two RBI. He was one of three Spartans with three RBI, joining Sullivan and Grob.
