UNC Asheville Baseball Heads to Charleston Southern for Weekend Series

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville baseball team is in action this weekend when the Bulldogs head to Charleston Southern for a Big South Conference series that starts Friday at 2 p.m. The teams play on Saturday and Sunday, also at 2 p.m.

Asheville (9-15, 3-3 BSC) enters the weekend series with wins in three of its last four games, including winning a series with defending Big South Conference champion Coastal Carolina last weekend. The Bulldogs bounced back from a 13-2 loss on Friday to win the series with a 3-2 victory on Saturday and 12-inning, 7-6 triumph on Sunday.

Tom Smith's club faces a Charleston Southern team playing some good baseball, as well. The Buccaneers (15-12, 3-3 BSC) swept Radford this past weekend. The two teams are among seven that are second place in the league standings with a 3-3 BSC mark. Asheville earned a three-game sweep of CSU last season at McCormick Field.

"Charleston Southern is a good team that's playing some pretty good baseball right now," admitted Smith. "We had a good weekend against Coastal Carolina but we've got to built on that and keep winning series after series.

"We had a tough series with Charleston Southern last year, but we were fortunate to find a way to win three games," added Smith. "It looks they're a much better this year. We'll need to be at our best to have a chance."

Asheville is scheduled to start junior right-hander Ryan Dull (1-3, 6.25 ERA) on Friday with Grier Harrington (2-3, 5.40 ERA) scheduled to start on Saturday. Freshman right-hander Tommy Houmard (1-1, 6.22 ERA) is slated to start Sunday's game.

The Bulldogs split a pair of mid-week games as they defeated North Carolina A&T on the road Tuesday, 14-8 before falling to SEC power Tennessee, 14-6 Wednesday night.

"We're starting to hit the ball a little better and that's good to see," commented Smith. "We've won some close games here lately and hopefully that will help us this weekend."

BULLDOG NOTES

The Bulldogs have won three of the last five series they've played at Charleston Southern. However, Asheville's sweep of CSU marked the first time the Bulldogs had won a home series against the Buccaneers since 1994.

Asheville is 4-2 in one-run games and has won its last three one-run affairs. All of those wins have been Big South Conference victories.

The Bulldogs are 7-0 when leading after eight innings.

Danny Baatz leads Asheville with 10 stolen bases. He led the Bulldogs in stolen base last year with just eight.

Asheville is 7-3 in one-run Big South Conference games dating back to last year.

Robert McIntosh leads the Bulldogs with a .394 average. He is 7-for-10 in the last two games and was 4-for-4 with three doubles at Tennessee Wednesday night.