Bannon's Go-Ahead Single Gives Baseball a Sweep at USC Upstate

Sunday, March 6

Spartanburg, S.C.

1 P.M.

Xavier University

3-7

USC Upstate

7-5

Xavier

USC Upstate

Bannon's Go-Ahead Single Gives Baseball a Sweep at USC Upstate

03.06.16 | Baseball

Box Score

Musketeers recover after blowing early lead for third consecutive win in Spartanburg

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletics Communication

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Rylan Bannon singled home the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth, helping Xavier seal a weekend sweep after allowing USC Upstate to come back from a six-run deficit at Harley Park on Sunday afternoon.

XU AT THE PLATE

• Xavier recorded 13 hits in the series finale, getting multi-hit games from Blaine Griffiths (2-for-5, R), Joe Gellenbeck (2-for-3, 3 R), Nate Soria (2-for-5, 2 RBI), Will LaRue (2-for-4, 2 RBI) and David Morton (2-for-5, 2 RBI).
• Daniel Rizzie (1-for-5, R), Andre Jernigan (1-for-5, RBI) and Rylan Bannon (1-for-1, RBI) also collected hits for the Musketeers.
• Morton pushed his hitting streak to four games with his third multi-hit game of the season. He is now 7-for-18 (.389) with six RBI in his last four games.
• LaRue stole a base for the fifth straight game, pushing his season total to eight. The sophomore outfielder has also scored a run in four straight games.
• Gellenbeck's two-hit day extended his hitting streak to a team-best six games. His three runs tied a career-high.
• XU swiped two bases, finishing the weekend with eight total steals. Xavier has 25 stolen bases in its last six games.
• Matt Fallon worked a leadoff walk in the first, reaching base for the 10th straight game.
• XU finished the weekend series with 17 runs and now has 31 of its 41 runs for the season in its last four games.

XU ON THE MOUND

• Starter Trent Astle went four innings and did not factor in the decision, allowing four earned runs.
• Taylor Williams tossed 2.1 innings of relief, getting out of a jam in the fifth and tossing a clean sixth before running into trouble in the seventh. He would exit with one out after surrendering three earned runs.
• Junior Brad Kirschner steadied the ship, providing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief with a walk and a strikeout.
• Sophomore Garrett Schilling came on in the bottom of the ninth to earn a second straight save, setting down the Spartans in 1-2-3 fashion.

HOW THE MUSKETEERS SCORED

SECOND INNING: Nate Soria double to left center to open up the inning, coming around to score on a two out single by David Morton.
THIRD INNING: Daniel Rizzie double down the left field line to start things off, scoring on a single by Joe Gellenbeck. Andre Jernigan followed with a double to left center, plating Rizzie. Nate Soria then knocked Gellenbeck in with a grounder to short and Will LaRue singled to center to bring Jernigan around to score.
THIRD INNING: Blaine Griffiths singled to center field to lead off the inning, stealing second with one out. After a Joe Gellenbeck worked a walk, Nate Soria singled with two outs to score Griffiths. Will LaRue then produced a two out single to center to score Gellenbeck and make it a 7-1 game.
NINTH INNING: Joe Gellenbeck led off the inning with a single to right, advancing on a one out wild pitch. After Nate Soria went down swinging, Will LaRue was intentionally walked to bring up pinch hitter Rylan Bannon. The sophomore responded off the bench with a single to center, scoring Gellenbeck and giving Xavier an 8-7 lead.

BUSTING OUT THE BROOMS

• The three straight wins are the most for XU since taking three straight at the 2014 BIG EAST Tournament during its championship run.
• Xavier's last weekend sweep came from April 11-13, 2014 against Villanova at Hayden Field.
• The last road non-conference weekend sweep for the Musketeers came from April 12-14, 2013 at Evansville.

NEXT UP

• Xavier gets Wright State on Tuesday, March 8 in its first midweek game of the season. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. in Fairborn, Ohio.
• The Musketeers (3-7) travel to college baseball powerhouse Vanderbilt for a three-game set next weekend in Nashville. First pitch in the series is set for Friday, March 11 at 5 p.m.