University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Play at Tennessee Tonight at 7 p.m.
05.18.2010 | Baseball
Bulldog fans will be able to follow the game as Director of Athletics Media Communications Matt Pellegrin will submit a blog and twitter throughout the game. You can access both of those accounts at www.uncabulldogs.com.
Asheville is coming off a three-game Big South Conference sweep of Charleston Southern this past weekend. The wins improved the Bulldogs overall record to 15-32 and 8-16 in the league. Asheville moved into eighth place in the conference standings and is 1/12 games in front of Charleston Southern for the final berth in next week's Big South Conference Tournament. The Bulldogs finish the regular-season with three games against league foe Gardner-Webb at McCormick Field. One Asheville win or a CSU loss will clinch a berth in next week's tournament. Two Bulldog wins over Gardner-Webb would move them up to the seventh seed.
But tonight Asheville takes on the Volunteers (29-23). The Bulldogs have had some success against UT in the series. The Vols lead the all-time series 19-6 and are 16-6 against Asheville in Knoxville. The Bulldogs have posted wins over UT in 1989, 1990, 1998, 2000, 2005 and 2006. UT has won the last two meetings, including last year's 13-3 win.
Asheville will start freshman left-hander Drew Spear (3-4) in tonight's game. Spear picked up a win in relief in his last outing on Saturday. He pitched a scoreless ninth in the Bulldogs' 4-3 win over Charleston Southern. This will be Spear's 10th start of the season.
"We're excited about playing Tennessee," commented Asheville coach Tom Smith. "They've got a good team and really hit the ball. We're going to have to pitch well to have a chance to win."
NOTING THE BULLDOGS
1. UNC Asheville earned its first sweep over Charleston Southern in 18 years this weekend. It won a home series against the Buccaneers for the first time since the 1994 season.
2. Senior infielder Justin Schumer leads Asheville in just about every offensive category. He tops the club in average (.361), home runs (7), RBI (31), runs scored (33), doubles (15), slugging percentage (.586) and on-base percentage (.438).
3. Asheville has made just one error in the past four games after making 44 in the previous 16 games.
4. The Bulldogs are 9-6 this season against opponents who start left-handed pitchers.
5. Asheville has more wins (15) than it did all of last year (9). It has more road wins (8) than it did last season (3) and more BSC wins (8) than last year (5).
