USC Upstate‘s baseball program wraps its 2026 regular season this week at Cleveland S. Harley Park in Spartanburg, hosting Elon on Thursday and Northern Kentucky in a two-game home series Friday and Saturday before departing for the Big South Baseball Championship in Asheville.
The Spartans enter the final stretch with a 26-27 overall record and a 13-11 mark in Big South Conference play — having already secured their spot in the postseason tournament that begins the following Wednesday at McCormick Field in Asheville, North Carolina. The qualifying record continues a stretch of Big South postseason appearances that has seen USC Upstate reach the championship tournament in three of the last five seasons.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Max Kaplan enters the final home series as one of the program’s most in-form arms. Kaplan tossed his second career complete game last Saturday against Presbyterian, scattering five hits and one run over nine innings while striking out a season-high-tying seven. The performance earned him a second career Big South Starting Pitcher of the Week recognition. Kaplan carries a 5-5 record and a 5.10 earned run average over 65.1 innings entering the Northern Kentucky series.
The Thursday matchup against Elon is the second meeting between the two programs this season. When they last met on May 5, the Spartans dominated the Phoenix 18-4 in seven innings, with the Upstate offense recording 15 hits. Elon enters this week at 20-31 overall and 10-20 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The series head-to-head currently favors Elon at 2-1, with neither of the previous two seasons producing a Spartans victory before this year.
Northern Kentucky, the weekend opponent, arrives with a 24-26 overall record and a 12-12 mark in the Horizon League. The series between the two programs is tied 6-6 all-time, though their most recent previous meetings were in March 2022 during a three-game stretch that saw split results. Northern Kentucky catcher Jake Paulick leads his club in six offensive categories entering the weekend, batting .351 with 60 hits, 14 doubles, 13 home runs, and a team-high 47 RBI. He also leads the Horizon League in walks with 40 on the season.
Probable starters for USC Upstate include Kaplan for the first Northern Kentucky game and right-hander Brent Stukes for the Saturday finale. Stukes carries a 6-3 record and a 5.86 ERA over the regular season. The Thursday Elon start goes to left-hander Chris Torres, who enters at 5-4 with a 5.90 ERA.
The Spartans’ season has included notable victories over Power Four competition: earlier this week, they defeated Clemson 6-3 at Fifth Third Park — the program’s eighth consecutive season with at least one win over a Power Four opponent. That result added to a regular season that has balanced conference position-building with competitive non-conference scheduling.
All three home games this week will be available on the Big South Conference Digital Network. Thursday’s first pitch against Elon is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET, with the Northern Kentucky doubleheader kicking off Friday at 6:00 p.m. and concluding Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Harley Park in Spartanburg. The Big South Baseball Championship begins the following Wednesday in Asheville, North Carolina.
