University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Open Big South Play With VMI
03.15.2012 | Baseball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- The UNC Asheville baseball team will open Big South Conference play on Friday afternoon when the Bulldogs host league foe VMI in a three-game series at Greenwood Field, as Asheville will look to start get off to a good start to the 2012 conference season.
Friday's game is set to begin at 3 p.m., with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. start on Sunday. Live Stats are available by clicking HERE.
Asheville (8-9) is coming off of a 13-0 victory over Morehead State on Sunday afternoon, but the Eagles were able to take two out of three games from the Bulldogs on the weekend. MSU took game one 4-3 before taking game two 7-5, but the Blue & White was able to find its offense in the finale to salvage the series.
The Bulldogs are currently fifth in the Big South in team batting (.270) and sixth in team pitching (4.34 ERA), while individually Billy Creighton (.393) and Jordan Lurie (.358) are fourth and ninth in the league, respectively, in batting average.
Creighton is also second in the league in runs batted in with 21, while Lurie is seventh in the league in hits, averaging 1.41 per game.
Senior pitcher Ryan Dull will get the start on Friday, with Drew Spear and Dean Roland scheduled to start Saturday. Dull is currently tied for second in the Big South in strikeouts, averaging 9.82 per contest.
VMI (6-10) is coming off of an 8-3 setback against Old Dominion on Wednesday evening. With the Keydets leading 2-0, ODU scored twice in the third inning, runs charged to Keydet starter Adam Lopez but scored off the Keydet bullpen.
The Keydets retook the lead in the fourth, scoring on a Chase Worthington sacrifice fly, but a two-run double by Michael Perez gave the Monarchs the lead for good, 4-3. ODU then tacked on an additional run in the fifth, and pulled away with three in the seventh to account for the final margin.
VMI is currently seventh in the league in team batting average, with a mark of .258, while Keydet pitchers combining for a team ERA of 5.09.
Jacob Morley leads the team in batting average, hitting for a .377 clip on the season. He also leads the Keydets in RBI (12) and slugging percentage (.721). Pitcher Coby Cowgill (3-0) leads the team in wins with three, and strikeouts with 21.
Players Mentioned
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