Upstate Baseball Featured on Sirius XM College Sports
Gaither Bumgardner Audio Clip (Sirius XM College Sports)
Follow the Spartans on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Gaither Bumgardner (Fort Lawn, S.C.), who recorded one of the more impressive streaks in college baseball, spoke Sunday evening with Mike Ferrin of Sirius XM College Sports.
Bumgardner, beginning in the eighth inning of the finale against Jacksonville (Apr. 22), began a streak of 11 straight hits and 15 consecutive times on base. In the Spartans 11-run, eighth inning, Bumgardner was hit by a pitch to open the inning and later recorded a hit to begin the streak.
Following the week off from competition due to exams, Bumgardner posted a perfect 5-for-5 effort at the plate at Wofford (May 1). He also drew a walk in the contest as he finished with three runs and one RBI.
A day later, at Georgia State, Bumgardner again went 5-for-5, this time he posted six RBI and two runs in the 15-3 win over the Panthers. He also earned two free passes (HBP, Walk) in Upstate's 30th win of the season.
In the first inning Friday night at Stetson the junior grounded out to end his chance at breaking a pair of NCAA records.
Bumgardner was chasing a 35-year old record set by Gonzaga's Larry Patterson during the 1977 campaign. Patterson recorded a NCAA record 14 consecutive hits during the '77 season.
The junior's streak of 15 consecutive times on base also came to an end with the first inning ground out. Bumgardner fell three shy of tying Shaun Larkin's record of 18 consecutive times on base. Larkin (Cal. St. Northridge) reached base safely 18 times over a span of four games (Feb. 8-12, 2002).