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!: With a new conference
and division reclassification you'll be playing new teams
and abandoning old opponents. Are there any teams that
you foresee being Spartan rivals? It seems Presbyterian,
with their proximity and transitioning to DI the same
time as you would be a natural adversary.
Eckard:
I think Wofford is a big one for us just because they
are right here in town and real close. It will be real
fun and there should be a lot of people coming out to
the game. For me, personally, the couple Florida (at North
Florida, at Stetson) teams we get to play just because
they are from back home and I haven't gotten to play any
since I came up here. That will be a lot of fun and be
a couple good series.
Bowley: Probably, now that we're playing
Wofford, that will be a pretty big rivalry because we're
so close. I know North Florida and Kennesaw will be rivals
because we used to play them, and we haven't beat North
Florida. We've always had a good series with them, so,
I'm sure there will always be a pretty good rivalry because
Coach Fincher and Coach Dusty Rhodes are pretty good friends.
Runion: Of course, Wofford, since they're
right down the street (Asheville Highway). Then you have
Charlotte, which is right up the road, 70 or so miles.
We're looking forward to playing everybody. Everybody
is going to be our rivals because we don't know them,
except PC, of course. It should be fun.
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.
