Baseball Hosts Charleston Southern in Three-Game Series Starting Friday

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville baseball team returns to McCormick Field this weekend for a key Big South Conference series with Charleston Southern starting on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. The series continues with a game on Saturday at 1 p.m. and concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. Friday and Saturday's games will be audio-streamed and can be accessed at www.uncabulldogs.com. Sunday's game will be video-streamed and can be seen for a small fee at www.bigsouthsports.com.

Both teams need wins if they're going to qualify for the Big South Conference baseball tournament to be held at the end of the month at Winthrop. The top eight teams make the tourney. The Buccaneers (17-31, 6-14 BSC) are in eighth place in the latest league standings, while the Bulldogs are in ninth place (12-32, 5-16 BSC) a game behind CSU. Both teams have one more conference series at home. Asheville hosts Gardner-Webb to end the regular season, while Charleston Southern finishes up with High Point.

"We're in control of our destiny," stated Asheville coach Tom Smith. "If we win some games, we'll be in the conference tournament. We don't have to depend on other teams to do our work. All we have to do is win some games."

The Buccaneers have struggled recently but CSU owns some good wins. Earlier this year, they won at Florida and also own a road win over VMI.

"Charleston Southern has some good pitching and has some guys that can really hit the ball," stated Smith. "We're going to have to play well this weekend."

The Bulldogs look to end a six-game losing streak on Friday. Asheville has dropped nine straight BSC games.

Sophomore Ryan Dull (4-3, 4.10 ERA) is scheduled to be the Bulldogs starter on Friday.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS

1. UNC Asheville has not won a home series against Charleston Southern since the 1994 season. The Bulldogs are 5-16 at both McCormick Field and Greenwood Field against CSU since winning the series against the Bucs, 2-1.

2. The Bulldogs are just 3-10 at home this year. Asheville is 0-7 at McCormick Field.

3. Justin Schumer leads Asheville in homers (6), RBI (29) and doubles (14).