USC Upstate closed the regular season Saturday with the kind of game coaches remember for a while: a 10-9 Senior Day comeback over Northern Kentucky at Cleveland S. Harley Park. The program said the win pushed the streak to six straight games, capped a 10-1 finish in May, and created more momentum heading into the Big South Baseball Championship.
The box score told the story of a team that refused to let one bad inning define the afternoon. Early scoring came from RBI singles by Trey Bentley and Jake Armsey in the first, then three more runs in the second behind back-to-back doubles from Henry Zenor and Maloy Heaghney plus another run-scoring hit. Northern Kentucky surged back with a five-run fifth inning, creating the kind of swing that can flatten a Senior Day atmosphere. Instead, the home side answered immediately. Brady Small’s three-run home run in the sixth swung the lead back, and an insurance RBI later came from Henry Zenor when the Norse scored again in the ninth.
Pitching depth also mattered. Jacob Kirby covered 4.0 innings and allowed one run, while two scoreless innings also came from Juan Reyes. That support gave the lineup room to survive the middle-inning wobble and secure another close finish. Before first pitch, the program honored a 10-member senior class that included Jake Armsey, Gage Griggs, Reece Hemmerling, Preston Lucas, Juan Reyes, Alex Ritzer, Brady Small, Johnny Sweeney, Wylie Waters, and Emma Hudson. For a program based in Spartanburg, Senior Day wins carry extra weight because they connect roster turnover, home-crowd emotion, and postseason timing in one afternoon.
The schedule now turns quickly toward tournament baseball. The program had already secured a Big South tournament berth and will begin postseason play in Asheville. That means Saturday’s result was not just sentimental. It was practical. The team left Harley Park with one more comeback, one more home win, and the kind of late-season confidence every club wants before the bracket starts.
