ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? UNC Asheville scored a school-record 33 runs en route to a 33-8 victory over Hartford at Greenwood Field Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs (10-12) posted 25 hits, scored at least three runs in six different innings and had three different players drive in at least five runs. Asheville scored nine runs in the sixth inning and then exploded for 10 runs in the seventh inning. The home team took advantage of seven Hawk errors and 10 walks by Hartford pitching.
Graham Baughn (1-0) earned the win for the Bulldogs. He started the game and was pre-determined that he was on a pitch count. Baughn went three innings before relievers' Chris Brookey, Carson McLean, Dillon Waters and Matt Dalby finished up.
Asheville was led at the plate by senior right-fielder Elliott Arrington. Arrington went 3-for-4 from the plate and drove in seven runs before being taken out of the game in the sixth inning. Third baseman Danny Baatz went 4-for-7 with six RBI. His three-run double in the first inning capped a four-run uprising that got the Bulldogs going.
Designated Hitter Brett Robinson went 3-for-4 with five RBI.
Hartford pounded out 11 hits on the day. Andy Drexel and Ben Sobocinski had two hits each with each player getting a double. Drexel also scored two runs.
The Bulldogs jumped in front in the first as Sobocinski hit a batter and then walked three batters to plate a run. Baatz then followed with a three-run double to put Asheville in front 4-0.
In the second inning, Hartford committed three errors to help Asheville score four times for an 8-0 lead.
The Hawks got two runs back in the third to make it 8-2 but the Bulldogs plated three more runs in the bottom of the frame to lead 11-2. Arrington's-two run single highlighted the inning.
Hartford tried to battle back and got two runs in fourth and one in the fifth to close to 11-5.
Asheville then took control of the game. Arrington's first homer of the year, a three-run shot, in the fifth put the lead to 14-5. The Bulldogs then picked up nine runs in the sixth and 10 more runs in the seventh to lead 33-5. The previous school record for runs was 24 set in the 1989 season against Augusta. Asheville had that record early in the seventh inning.
Tyler Jankowski had a three-run homer for Asheville in the seventh inning. Heath Lock had a two-run single.
Hartford plays Brown at 2:40 p.m. today. The Bulldogs host Brown in a double-header Sunday starting at 1 p.m.
