CHARLESTON – USC Upstate defeated Charleston Southern on Sunday by an 8-2 final score. The win gives the Spartans a weekend sweep over the Buccaneers, moving CSU to 0-6 in Big South action through the first two weekends. AJ Martin highlighted the team's day with a perfect 4-4 outing.
 
The Spartans were able to gain the lead in the top of the first off a Johnny Sweeney double with two outs on the board. He extended the lead to 3-0 and 5-0 in the third and seventh with a pair of two-run home runs.
 
The visitors went on to score another two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth, pushing their lead to 8-0 with half an inning left in the ballgame.
 
During this, Charleston Southern was finally able to get runs across the diamond. Blake Edgmon had a double to deep left center that scored Lew Rice. After this, Kain Collins had a single to move Edgmon over to third. During the play, the first baseman was unable to field the ball that Collins beat to the bag, allowing it to go to the fence and score Edgmon, the team's second and final score of the day.
 
On offense, Martin reached base in all four of his plate appearances with each being a single. There were four other Bucs that recorded a hit during the contest.
 
Charleston Southern used five pitchers in the game. Nick Timpanelli had the start, picking up the loss, throwing the first three innings. Ryan DuSang threw a scoreless 2.0 followed by Tyler Henshaw tossing the next 2.1 without allowing an earned run across. Hayden Henry and Kyle Lewis also threw. The staff combined for 13 total strikeouts, the most in a single game this season.
 
The Buccaneers will be back in action on Tuesday, March 25 as they will travel to face UNC Wilmington. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. with the game to be available live on FloBaseball.