University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldog Baseball Hosts Charleston Southern This Weekend
04.05.2012 | Baseball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville baseball team finally returns home to Greenwood Field this weekend when the Bulldogs host Charleston Southern in a key Big South Conference series starting on Friday at 3 p.m. The teams conclude the series on Saturday with a double-header starting at 11:30 a.m.
Asheville (14-16, 4-5 BSC) has played its last nine games away from Greenwood Field with one game at McCormick Field and the rest on the road. The Bulldogs enter the CSU series with some momentum after a big road win on Tuesday when they downed Furman 5-4.
"We did a nice job at Furman," admitted Bulldog head coach Tom Smith. "Our guys had some big hits with men on base plus got some clutch pitching that recorded some big outs. We're going to need more of the same this weekend against Charleston Southern."
Asheville is scheduled to start sophomore right-hander Dean Roland (4-2, 3.73 ERA) on Friday. Ryan Dull (2-4, 4.46 ERA) and left-hander Drew Spear (2-2, 3.82 ERA) are slated to start Saturday's twin-bill.
Charleston Southern is 10-20 on the year and has a 2-4 worksheet in Big South Conference games. The Buccaneers are coming off a big win as they knocked off The Citadel 5-2 on Wednesday. The CSU program has always seemed to have some good luck in Asheville. The Buccaneers had won seven straight series in Asheville against the Bulldogs before Smith's club recorded a three-game sweep at McCormick Field in 2010.
"Charleston Southern has played a tough non-conference schedule and been competitive in a lot of their games," stated Smith. "We're going to have to play good baseball against them to have a chance at winning the series.
"We need to start finding ways to win games, especially in the conference," added Smith. "We're in the middle of the pack in the conference but need some wins to get some separation from some teams."
BULLDOG NOTES
Asheville is 8-4 this year at home, 3-0 in league play.
The Bulldogs are 3-4 in one-run games and 3-3 in two-run contests.
Asheville has scored two or less runs in 11 games this year.
The Bulldogs are 7-0 when they hit a home run in a game.
Asheville is a perfect 12-0 when leading after six innings and 8-0 when leading after eight innings.
In a quirky stat, the Bulldogs are 2-5 when they don't commit an error in a game but are 8-7 when they make two or more errors in a contest.
Freshman Hunter Bryant tops the team in hitting with a .329 average. Senior Jordan Lurie is right behind him with a .326 average.
Asheville pitching has allowed opponents to hit just .261 this season compared to .312 last year.
