University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldog Baseball Faces Western Carolina Tonight at McCormick Field
03.21.2012 | Baseball
Asheville (11-10) is coming off a close 3-1 loss at East Tennessee State on Tuesday afternoon. The Bulldogs were held to five hits in the contest after banging out 41 hits this past weekend in a sweep of VMI.
"We pitched it pretty well yesterday but ran into some good pitching," commented Asheville coach Tom Smith. "We need to put that one behind us and get ready for Western Carolina."
The Bulldogs have a tough challenge awaiting them with Western Carolina. The Catamounts are 15-5 on the year and posted impressive non-conference victories over Clemson and Duke. Asheville swept the two-game season series from WCU last year for the first time ever.
The men of Tom Smith are off to its best start since the 2004 season at this point of the year. Asheville will start junior left-hander Drew Spear on the hill this evening. Spear is 2-2 on the year with a 3.00 ERA. He also has a save on the season.
On the hitting front, senior infielder Jordan Lurie is having a great season for the Bulldogs. He leads Asheville with a .366 average. Lurie also tops the club in hits (26), runs scored (14) and multiple hit games (9). Freshman first baseman Hunter Bryant is next with a .360 average.
BULLDOG NOTES
UNC Asheville enters tonight's game with wins in four of its last five games.
This is Asheville's second night game of the year.
The Bulldogs are 2-2 in one-run games this season.
Asheville is four wins away (11) from matching last year's win total of 15.
The Bulldogs' ERA is 3.96 and opponents are hitting .255 against Asheville pitching. Last year, teams hit .312 and the Dogs' ERA was 6.38.
Jordan Lurie has reached base in 18 straight games. Ian Graham has reached in 12 straight contests.
