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SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Spartan baseball team will continue its five-game homestand when they welcome in the Belmont Bruins for a three-game Atlantic Sun series beginning on Friday night at 6:00 p.m.  Following Friday's single game, the two teams will play a doubleheader beginning on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

Belmont has claimed the three previous series and owns a 6-3 record against the Spartans.  Last season, Belmont took the first two games of the series (Mar. 26-27, 2010) by scores of 8-5 and 8-2, before USC Upstate claimed the series finale, 3-1.

First Pitch…

• Five different Spartans tallied two hits against Gardner-Webb on Wednesday night (Trey Richardson, 2-4; Austin Liput, 2-5; Luke Weber, 2-5; Tyler Cook 2-4; Tyler Miller 2-4).

• Anthony Vacca belted his first career homer on Wednesday night... On a 2-1 count, the Spartan rookie sent GWU starter Erik Hellingstadt's pitch over the wall in right field to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the 2nd inning.

• Upstate picked up its first ever win over a nationally-ranked (Div. I) opponent with shutout of No. 20 Stetson on Friday.

• Spartan starter Scott DeCecco pitched seven innings vs. Stetson (Apr. 1) scattering six hits and three walks over the course of his 117-pitch outing... DeCecco, who struck four Hatter batters, was honored as the Atlantic Sun's Pitcher of the Week.

• In the series opener vs. Stetson (Apr. 1), Spartan rookie Luke Weber was a perfect 4-for-4 at the dish with one RBI and one run.

• Against Wofford (Mar. 29), rookie Anthony Vacca finished 2-for-4 at the plate with four RBI and two walks... Austin Liput collected three hits and also scored three runs against the Terriers... Luke Weber and Tyler Cook had two hits each against Wofford.

• Blake Green led the Spartan attack at FGCU (Mar. 25-26) as he finished with a .615 batting average (8-for-13) while scoring five runs and driving in three.  He also earned a trio of free passes via two walks and a hit by pitch.

• Upstate picked up wins in the series opener and finale to claim a 2-1 series victory over FGCU over the weekend... Upstate claimed game one, 12-5, dropped the middle game, 2-12, before claiming the finale, 12-8.

• Gaither Bumgardner became the first Spartan since Matt Branham (Mar. 17, 2007) to toss a complete game shutout... Bumgardner fanned a career-best nine batters en route to his first career victory on Mar. 19 vs. North Florida.

The Scouting Report – Belmont

The Bruins enter the weekend series with a 2-6 mark over their last eight games with the wins coming at Western Kentucky (W, 9-8, 10 inn., Mar. 30) and in the series finale against Jacksonville (W, 5-1, Apr. 3)... Dylan Craig leads the Bruins with a .378 BA and is also the team leader in hits with 42... Derek Hamblen leads the team in runs scored with 29 and is tied for the team lead in doubles (10), while Nate Woods is the Belmont leader in home runs (5) and RBI (24)... Friday starter Chase Brookshire sits 1-2 on the campaign with a 3.63 ERA in 44.2 innings of work... Brookshire has given up 49 hits (14 XBH) and owns a 2.69 strikeout-to-walk ratio... Matt Hamann will get the call in game one of Saturday's twinbill... The junior owns a 3-1 record with a 3.30 ERA in 30 innings on the mound... Hamann has struck out 21 batters in 2011 and opponents are hitting just .223 off of the right-hander.