University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Baseball to Open 2010 Season at Campbell on Friday
02.18.2010 | Baseball
First-year coach Tom Smith looks forward to opening day but wishes his team had practiced more outside. The winter weather in the Asheville area has limited the Bulldogs' opportunities to practice outside at Greenwood Field.
"We've been inside for most of the preseason but so have a lot of other teams," commented Smith. "There's not much you can do about the weather. We're fortunate to have a facility on campus that has allowed us to practice inside.
"Our guys have worked hard and done what they've can do," added Smith. "We'll see what happens this weekend."
Smith is trying to improve on a team that went 9-42 last season and was picked to finish in last place in the Big South Conference this year.
"We're going to try and improve with each game," said Smith. "We did a great job in the fall and showed significant improvement in all areas of the game. I'm not surprised we were picked last but hopefully that's not where we will finish."
Smith liked the improvement he saw with his pitchers in the fall. Former Bulldog great Aaron Rembert is Asheville's new pitching coach and credits him with the improvement.
"Coach Rembert did a great job with our pitchers in the fall by getting them to throw strikes and working fast," commented Smith. "When we scrimmaged in the fall, we only had one walk the whole day. We want our pitchers to throw strikes. We're hopeful that will carry over to the spring.
Sophomore right-hander Ryan Dull is scheduled to be the opening day starter on Friday. Dull. He went 3-11 last year with a 6.14 ERA. Dull did a solid job for the Bulldogs and lost a lot of close games. He pitched all three of Asheville's complete games in 2009.
The Bulldogs return seven starters on the field in 2010. Senior infielder Justin Schumer could be poised to have a big year. Schumer hit .277 with five home runs and a team-leading 31 RBI last season. He'll play some at first base this season along with being one of Asheville's weekend starting pitchers. Schumer is one of the best two-way players in the Big South Conference.
Sharing time at first base will be junior Mike Vaughn who led the Bulldogs in homers (7) and was third in RBI (28) last season. Junior Catlin Carter will move over from second base to shortstop. Carter hit .298 in 2009.
Sophomore Cody Buch will be Ashville's starter at third base. Buch was having a solid rookie season before getting injured midway through the year. He hit .302 in 26 games a year ago.
The Bulldogs will look to freshman Robert McIntosh to start at second base. Asheville will also use another freshman Ian Graham behind the plate to start the year.
The outfield returns experience in 2010. Left-field will be handled by junior Beau Zinman. He's been a two-year starter for Asheville in the outfield and hit .266 last season. Senior Austin Graham will patrol center field. Graham improved rapidly in the second half of the year and finished with a .226 batting average. He should be much better in 2010.
Junior Danny Baatz will start in right field. He's been a two-year starter for the Bulldogs and hit .247 last season.
"We've got some experience back and everybody has bought into what we're trying to do," declared Smith. "I'm having a great time coaching this team and we're going to play hard every game this year."
The Bulldogs will play the first seven games of the year away from home before having their home opener against East Tennessee State at Greenwood Field on March 3. Asheville plays 14 games at McCormick Field with the first date being a Big South Conference doubleheader vs. VMI on April 3.
