University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Winthrop
Winthrop Edges Bulldogs 12-11 in 13 Innings
04.16.2010 | Baseball
The Bulldogs (11-19, 5-8 BSC) rallied in the bottom of the 13th to score four times and had the bases loaded with two outs before Cody Buch ended the game with a fly out to left-field.
Justin Schumer led a trio of Bulldog players with three hits each. He and freshman catcher Ian Graham had three RBI apiece. Asheville hurt itself with seven errors as only three of Winthrop's (4-6, 16-17) runs were earned.
The Eagles were led by two players with three hits each. Tyler Cook went 3-for-4 with a double. Third baseman Chase Crane went 3-for-6 with two RBI and a home run.
The game was tied 7-7 entering the 13th inning when Winthrop took the lead with five runs. A single and two walks loaded the bases with one out. Matt Thielepape sent a ground ball to first base but the ball was thrown away at the plate that allowed two runs to score to push the led to 9-7. Two batters later, shortstop Adam Gliebe homered over the left-field wall for a 12-7 lead. The Eagles appeared to be in good shape to win their third straight league game.
Asheville would not go quietly in the bottom of the 13th as Winthrop would use three pitchers to try and quell the Bulldogs. Buch walked to open the inning and went to third on Beau Zinman's pinch-hit single.
Eagle reliever Greg Hough was taken out for Wade Newman. After getting the first hitter out, he walked Danny Baatz to load the bases. Schumer singled in a run to cut the lead to 12-8. Graham followed with a two-run double to suddenly carve the Winthrop lead to 12-10.
Newman came out for Tommy Lawrence. With runners on second and third, Robert McIntosh singled to center, scoring Schumer and sending Graham to third to narrow the lead to 12-11.
Newman was able to get a strike-out of Mike Vaughn for the second out. Jordan Lurie then reached first on catchers' interference to load the bases and bring up Buch again. The third baseman for Asheville battled and got the count to 3-2 before flying out to end the game.
The win went to Winthrop closer Tyler Mizenko (1-3) who pitched 4.2 innings and striking out a career-high eight. He gave up six hits, two runs and one earned. Lawrence earned his first save of the year.
The Eagles looked like they were going to get the win in the 12th when they scored twice to lead 7-5. Patrick Gamblin's RBI-double gave the Eagles a 6-5 lead. Tyler McBride's run-scoring single gave Winthrop a 7-5 lead.
However, Asheville nearly won in it the bottom of the frame and only a great defensive play by Winthrop prevented the Bulldogs from getting the win. Catlin Carter began the inning with a single and then went to third on two wild pitches. One out later, Schumer drove him in on single to make it 7-6. Graham reached on an error to put runners on first and second. McIntosh then sent a Mizenko pitch to center-field for a double, easily scoring Schumer to tie the game a 7-7. Graham tried to score from first and was narrowly tagged out at the plate by catcher Austen Barber on a great relay throw from Gliebe at shortstop. After a walk to Vaughn, Mizenko was able to get a strike-out to end the inning.
Winthrop scored three unearned runs in the top of the first inning to lead 3-0. Zak Blair reached on an error and eventually scored on balk. Crane hit a two-run homer for the Eagles other two runs.
As they did all day, the Bulldogs battled back. A double-steal scored Carter with Asheville's first run. Schumer had an RBI-single to make it 3-2.
The home team took the lead in the second with two runs. Buch had a double to put runners on second and third. Jacob Edwards' RBI-ground-out knotted the game at 3-3. Carter's run-scoring single put Asheville in front 4-3.
Winthrop would take advantage of three Asheville errors to tie the game in fifth at 4-4 as Cook had a sacrifice fly.
The Eagles took the lead in the sixth when Thielepape homered over the center-field wall for a 5-4 margin.
It stayed that way until the Bulldogs rallied in the eighth. Danny Baatz opened the inning with a double. One out later, Graham stroked a double to right-field tying the contest at 5-5.
The teams play the second of their three-game series Saturday afternoon at McCormick Field starting at 2 p.m.
