Baseball Gets First Win of 2016 at USC Upstate, 6-1

Friday, March 4

Spartanburg, S.C.

4 P.M.

Xavier University

1-7

USC Upstate

7-3

Xavier

USC Upstate

Baseball Gets First Win of 2016 at USC Upstate, 6-1

03.04.16 | Baseball

Box Score

Zac Lowther goes seven in second straight outing to pick up the win

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletics Communication

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Zac Lowther was brilliant in a second straight start as Xavier baseball broke through for its first win of the 2016 season on Friday night, beating USC Upstate 6-1 at Harley Park.

The victory snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Musketeers.

XU AT THE PLATE

• Joe Gellenbeck hit his third home run of the season in the second inning, launching a leadoff solo shot to right. Gellenbeck has now homered in three straight weekend series for Xavier.
• Gellenbeck (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) and David Morton (3-for-4, RBI) each had multi-hit games for XU.
• Blaine Griffiths (1-for-5, R), Daniel Rizzie (1-for-5, RBI), Nate Soria (1-for-4, RBI) and Will LaRue (1-for-3, R) also had hits for Xavier.
• Griffiths has a hit in every game he has started this season, going 6-for-17 (.353) with a pair of doubles in four starts.
• Xavier stole three bases, giving the team 20 steals in its last four games. The Musketeers came into the weekend in the top-10 nationally in both total steals and steals per game.
• Andre Jernigan saw an eight-game hitting streak snapped, but was hit by a pitch for the 25th time in his XU career in the fourth inning – moving him into sixth-place in school history.

XU ON THE MOUND

• Zac Lowther (1-1) was brilliant for a second straight start, tying his career-high with seven innings of one-run ball. The lefty scattered four hits and didn't allow a walk, picking up his first win of the season.
• Damien Richard tossed multiple innings for a third straight appearance, locking down the Xavier win with two scoreless frames. The sophomore righty notched a career-high four strikeouts, while allowing two hits and a walk.

HOW THE MUSKETEERS SCORED

SECOND INNING: Joe Gellenbeck led off the frame with a solo shot to right field, making it 1-0.
FOURTH INNING: Andre Jernigan was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and stole second base before Nate Soria singled up the middle to score him and make it 2-0.
SIXTH INNING: Will LaRue kickstarted a two-out rally, singling to left center and stealing second. David Morton followed him at the plate and singled to right field to make it 3-0.
SEVENTH INNING: Rylan Bannon worked a leadoff walk, Matt Fallon was hit by a pitch and Blaine Griffiths reached on an error to load the bases with no outs. Bannon dashed home on a wild pitch and Fallon followed, scoring on a throwing error by the third baseman. Joe Gellenbeck then singled to center to score Griffiths and make it 6-1.

NEXT UP

• The Musketeers continue their weekend series at 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. Greg Jacknewitz will take the ball for XU.