When the first pitch is thrown in the February 22nd tilt between the USC Upstate Spartans and the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders, the Spartans will join NJIT as a team who recently made the jump to DI baseball. After a successful run in Division II, USC Upstate will be joining two other former Peach Belt conference schools North Florida and Kennesaw State (as well as the NJIT who made the move last year from the Eastern College Athletic Conference) as teams that have made the transition to the highest level of competitive college baseball.

A trio of seniors will be leading the Spartans in their first season. First baseman Andrew Runion (.341, 4, 43), DH/P Kyle Bowley (.270, 2, 26 & 4-2, 6.06, 52 IP, 41 SO as a pitcher) and left-handed hurler Scott Eckard (3.01, 89.2 IP, 73 SO, 29 BB) will be aiming to make the Spartans first season in the Atlantic Sun conference a memorable one. Victories will be harder to come by in Spartanburg this spring, as Upstate has 17 games in 2008 schedueld against teams that finished in the top 100 in RPI in 2007. However the three have yet to experience a season without 30-wins, and don’t count on 2008 being the first season they don’t meet that plateau. The Spartan seniors recently took some time out preparing for next season to answer some questions from Ping!

PING!: What about the couple teams, North Florida and Kennesaw State, that were
in your old conference, the Peach Belt, before moving to your new conference, the Atlantic Sun, two years ago?

Eckard: They were such good teams at Division II and they're doing well in Division I so it will be just as tough a competition for us to come in here and see if we can compete with them.

PING!: Your head coach Matt Fincher didn't hold back on finding quality opponents for you in your inaugural DI season. South Carolina, Tennessee and Charlotte are all big time college baseball programs, and other schools such as The Citadel, UNC Asheville and Wofford have had recent postseason success. Plus you have stalwart conference opponents Jacksonville and Stetson to contend with. Do you have any fear the Spartans won't be able to continue their streak of three straight 30 win seasons?

Eckard: No fear. I don't think anybody has fear. I think we're all kind of star-struck right now, still, as we get to go into some big venues and play. I think it's just going to be a lot of fun. Bowley: The first season is going to be a learning experience for us. We don't really know what we're getting into, but we've got good players.
We'll go in and try our best and at the end of the night, we'll see who is winning.

Runion: That's kind of what I was expecting, to face that kind of competition. You want to face the cream of the crop and that's the only way for your team to get better, through playing good teams. That's the only way for your team to improve is that experience with good teams.

PING!: Has the team set any goals as far as win totals or accomplishments that will determine if the team's first DI season is a success?

Eckard: I think one of our big things this fall is not giving anyone else a game. We just have to play as well as we can and not give away the game. I think we can compete with just about anybody.

Bowley: I guess our biggest goal is just to go out every night and compete.
It doesn't really matter who you're playing as long as you go out every night and compete and try your hardest.

Runion: It's always hard to set goals when you're not going to be able to play in the postseason. Our goal is definitely to win as many games as possible. We want to have a winning record. I don't see it to be that far out of our reach. You always want to have a winning record and I don't see why we can't accomplish that.

PING!: Did the Spartans' transition to DI influence your decision to attend school at Spartanburg?

Eckard: I think Division I was in talks when I was being recruited, but it hadn't really shown its face yet. In the last few years, its really started to come around.

Bowley: It was up in the air when I was being recruited here, but I don'tthink it was a determining factor. I really liked the program and I knew it was an up-and-coming program in a big Division II conference so I figured it would be a good decision to come here and give it a whirl.

Runion: I didn't really know, at first, coming in. I knew we would be Division I eventually. I didn't think it would be until after my senior year. It wasn't a factor. I knew this was an up-and-coming program and it still is.

PING!: As a senior this season do you feel any add responsibility to be a leader for your team?

Eckard: Especially as a senior, just to come out and show what you already know and try to give to the young guys as much as you can. We've got a long of guys so it will be a lot of fun.

Bowley: Absolutely. I've been through the process, going on my fourth year,
and we're here to show the new guys the ropes so they can do it when
they get older.

Runion: Absolutely. There's a bunch of seniors on this team and everyone is going to have to step up. Even the juniors are going to have to step up. It's about everybody making the transition and everybody helping each other along the way. This is new for all of us.

PING!: With USC Upstate and Presbyterian College's addition to the DI ranks,there are 11 schools playing at the top collegiate level in South Carolina (including another 17 in North Carolina). What's going on in the Carolina's that makes baseball so popular?

Eckard: I don't know. I didn't get to play high school around here, but it sure shows that the high schools around here are real competitive. Why go far when you can stay right here and play?

Bowley: Growing up in Florida, I didn't know much about the Carolinas, but now, I've been here four years and the weather is not bad here. There's a lot of opportunity to play baseball here. Wherever you go, there's always going to be talent and with good talent, that makes good teams.

Runion: I think it starts with the youth programs you have around here. Where I'm from, they have a great rec league. I think that's where it starts. You have to grow them young and keep them interested in baseball and progressing. I think South Carolina does a great job of that, especially, the lower state. Lower state does a great job of bringing up great players, but now the Upstate is bringing up great players that are getting recruited at big-time programs. South Carolina is a great place to play and nobody really wants to leave anymore. People still want to
come in from other states because it's a great place to play.

PING!: What Spartan should fans keep an eye out for on the diamond in 2008 (aside from yourself of course)?

Eckard: I think it will just be fun to see everybody play. With these big teams on the schedule, I think it will be more fun to us out there competing.

Bowley: We've got a bunch of young guys that will play this year. We'll be able to compete and shock a lot of people this year. It'll be fun.

Runion: I think we're going to have a really good lineup this year. We've got a lot of young guys that can really hit. We've got guys from last year that have improved tremendously and now we've got guys on the bump that are going to throw pretty good this year. I think we've improved drastically from last year and that's what we needed to do. It should be interesting.