University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Baseball Starts Two-Game Home Series vs. Georgia State Today
05.08.2012 | Baseball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville baseball team begins a stretch of six non-conference games this afternoon when the Bulldogs start a two-game home series vs. Georgia State at 3 p.m. The teams will play the second game on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Both games are scheduled to be video-streamed and can be seen at www.uncabulldogs.com. Live stats can be accessed here http://www.uncabulldogs.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19200&KEY=&SPID=11173&SPSID=9235.
Asheville (22-23) looks to build on the momentum of this weekend's three-game sweep at Big South Conference rival High Point. The Bulldogs swept a league road series for the first time since the 2010 campaign and moved up to fifth place in the league standings. Asheville has one more league series left and that's with Gardner-Webb May 17-19 at Greenwood Field.
"We had a great weekend at High Point," declared third-year coach Tom Smith. "Our guys found ways to win each and every game. We've been close all year long and hopefully we're going to build on this success and get some more wins."
The Panthers (20-28) are members of the Colonial Conference and make their first visit to Greenwood Field since the 2004 season when Asheville won a two-game series. Georgia State has won the last four meetings, all in Atlanta, including a 7-1 decision last year.
The games against Georgia State will be a homecoming for former Bulldog head coach and player Willie Stewart. Stewart was an all-conference second baseman for Asheville in 2000. He served as an assistant coach for three seasons before being named head coach in the summer of 2004. Stewart was Asheville's head coach from 2005-2009 and led the Bulldogs to the 2006 Big South Conference championship. Willie is in first year as an assistant coach with the Panther program.
Asheville is on the road this weekend for its final road games of the regular season. The Bulldogs are at Southern Conference kingpin College of Charleston for a three-game series starting on Friday.
The men of Tom Smith return home to host national power UNC Chapel Hill at McCormick Field at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15. Tickets are still available at www.uncabulldogs.com. The Bulldogs then finish the regular season at home against Gardner-Webb.
"We're going to be ready for the Big South Conference Tournament (May 22-28) that's for sure with the games we're playing over the next two weeks," commented Smith. "Georgia State has a good team. We're going to see some great pitching at College of Charleston, and North Carolina is a team that could win the national championship. Gardner-Webb has been playing pretty good baseball lately, as well."
BULLDOG NOTES
UNC Asheville has won 22 games this season, the most by a Bulldog team since the 2008 team went 24-35. Asheville's 11 Big South Conference wins is the most since the 2004 team won 13.
The Bulldogs swept the series at High Point despite not having leading hitter Hunter Bryant who was out due to sickness. Bryant leads Asheville with a .316 average.
Todd Joyner was named Big South Player of the Week on Monday after enjoying a great three-game series at High Point. Joyner batted .583 (7-12) in leading the Bulldogs to a three-game sweep of High Point. He scored twice, knocked in five runs and tallied two doubles and one homer. Joyner recorded multiple hits and at least one RBI in all three contests, while finishing with a 1.000 slugging percentage and .615 on-base percentage. Joyner was 2-4 with two RBI in game one, 3-4 with two RBI in game two and 2-4 with an RBI in the finale.
Senior third baseman Cody Buch will bring an eight-game hitting streak into Tuesday's action. In addition, he's reached base in 13 straight contests.
Asheville is 6-5 in one-run games and 4-3 in two-run contests.
The Bulldogs are 14-3 when they homer in a game.
Asheville has posted three shutouts on the year, compared to two last season.
Jordan Lurie leads the Bulldogs in stolen bases with 12. He stole three at High Point this weekend.
Asheville is 12-8 at home this season but lost its last two games.
