SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Niagara baseball team dropped the season opener against the USC Upstate Spartans 23-6 on Friday evening.
 
The Purple Eagles (0-1) fell behind the Spartans (1-0) early and were never quite able to catch up. Down 4-0 heading into the second inning, the Purple Eagles were able to score a pair of runs to cut the deficit in half thanks to Travis Rosenwinkel RBI double and a wild pitch that would score catcher Jeff Calhoon.  Rosenwinkel was one of two players who took the field for the first time as a Purple Eagle who had an impact offensively.  The designated hitter finsiehd the day 1-for-2 at the plate.
 
The Spartans were able to extend the lead in the bottom half of the inning and found themselves up 9-2 after two innings.
 
“We let it get away on the mound early and couldn’t recover,” head coach Rob McCoy said.  “The hitters did show some fight at the end.  Tomorrow is another day.”
 
Niagara scored four runs in the top of the ninth.  Christian Vangeison, who was also in his first game for the Purple and White, brought Thomas Rodrigues and Joel Klock around to score with a double to right field.  Ryan McCauley was the next batter to the plate and followed the double with a homerun to right-center to score another pair of runs. 
 
McCauley and Klock were the standouts at the plate.  Klock went 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored while McCauley went 3-for-4 with a pair of extra base hits.  Drew Fittry (0-1) took the loss. 
 
The Purple Eagles are back on the field tomorrow with a doubleheader against Wofford.  First pitch for the first game has been moved up to 12 p.m.