University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Charleston Southern
Bulldogs Down Charleston Southern 13-9
05.14.2010 | Baseball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Justin Schumer went 4-for-5 at the plate and scored four runs to lead UNC Asheville to a 13-9 Big South Conference victory over Charleston Southern Friday afternoon at McCormick Field.
Freshman Robert McIntosh added three hits and pitched the final three innings to record the save as the Bulldogs (13-32, 6-16 BSC) snapped a nine-game BSC losing streak. The win went to Ryan Dull (5-3) who pitched six innings to earn the victory
The Buccaneers (17-32, 6-15 BSC) had 14 hits in the game with center-fielder Brantley Meier leading the way for the visitors with three hits and two runs scored. Left-fielder Tom Burkett drove in three runs and hit a solo home run.
Asheville pounded out 17 hits in the victory. It was the Bulldogs first win at McCormick Field this year in eight tries. Cody Buch, Ian Graham, Derrick Hopkins and Mike Vaughn all had two hits for the home team.
"We did a good job hitting the ball today," stated Asheville coach Tom Smith. "I was glad to see us battle back like we did when we got behind. I also was happy to see us keep putting runs up on the board after we took the lead. This is a big win but we've got two more big games on Saturday and Sunday against Charleston Southern."
Asheville trailed 6-3 entering the fifth inning but the Bulldogs sent nine men to the plate, scoring six runs to take the lead for good at 9-6.
Three straight hits to open the inning by Schumer, Vaughn and McIntosh loaded the bases with nobody out. Hopkins then sent a ground-ball to shortstop that was booted for an error, allowing Schumer to score to cut the lead to 6-4. Graham then tied the game with a two-run single to tie the game at 6-6.
That hit ended the day for CSU reliever Stew Brase as the Buccaneers brought in Tyler Vick. He walked Beau Zinman to load the bases. Buch gave the Dogs the lead for good on a sacrifice fly for a 7-6 Asheville lead. Graham scored later in the inning on a throwing error on a steal attempt to pad the lead to 8-6. Catlin Carter had a sacrifice fly for the final run of the inning to put the Dogs up 9-6.
Meier drove in a run in the sixth to cut the lead to 9-7. Asheville answered back in the bottom of the frame as Graham's run-scoring single plated Schumer for a 10-7 lead.
McIntosh was brought in to face CSU in the top of the seventh and he gave up a long home run to Burkett to narrow the lead to 10-8. However, he retired the next seven Buc hitters to keep the Bulldogs in front.
Asheville got some insurance by plating three runs in the eighth. McIntosh doubled to right to score Schumer with the first run of the inning. A sacrifice fly from Zinman scored McIntosh to make it 12-8. Buch drove in the final run with a single to left field.
The Bulldogs jumped in front in the first inning. With one out, Danny Baatz doubled off the right-field wall. Schumer followed with a run-scoring double down the left-field line for a 1-0 Asheville lead.
Vaughn drove in Schumer with a single to right-field for a 2-0 Bulldog advantage. McIntosh then singled to center to put runners on first and second.
That ended the day for CSU starter Anthony Markham who was removed due to an injury. Brase replaced Markham. Hopkins singled in Vaughn for a 3-0 Asheville lead. Brase then hit Graham to load the bases with one out. However, Brase was able to get the next Bulldog batters out to keep the damage to just three runs.
CSU got on the board in the third. Brandon McKinney singled to open the inning. One out later, he went to second on a single by Meier. Bently Christmas doubled to right-field to score McKinney to cut the lead to 3-1 and put runners on second and third.
Burkett followed with a two-run single to center field to knot the game at 3-3.
The Buccaneers took the lead in the fourth inning with some two-out lightning. With two outs and nobody on base, Walt Quattlebaum hit a home run over the right-field wall to give CSU a 4-3 lead. Brandon McKinney followed with a home run, just over the left-field foul pole for a 5-3 advantage. Later in the inning, Christmas added a run-scoring single to put CSU in front 6-3.
The teams play the second of their three-game series Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
