University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Furman
Bulldogs Edge Furman, 7-6 in Greenville
03.12.2015 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Behind a solid starting performance from sophomore left-handed pitcher Spencer Orr and hot bats, the UNC Asheville baseball team defeated Furman 7-6 on Wednesday evening at Latham Baseball Stadium.
Working with a six run advantage following the third inning, Orr (1-0) threw 5.2 innings allowing four runs on seven hits to grab his first win of the season. Nick Schavone came on in the 8th inning, after Furman scored a pair of run to trim the lead to one run, to close things out for Asheville (8-8) and earn his fourth save of the season.
Joe Tietjen belted a two-run home run in a five-run third inning as Asheville built a 6-0 lead.
The win evened the Bulldogs record at 8-8 on the season while Furman fell to 7-8 with the loss.
With Asheville leading 4-0 following a two-run single by Pete Guy, Tietjen, a sophomore center fielder, rocketed an offering from Furman starting pitcher Billy Greenfield over the left-field fence to score Guy ahead of him and stretch the Dogs advantage to 6-0.
The Paladins rallied with a run in the fourth and three in the sixth to cut the Bulldog lead to 6-4.
Asheville got a big insurance run in the seventh on Derek Smith's RBI-double to pad the lead to 7-4.
Furman closed to 7-6 with two runs in the eighth but Schavone closed the door on the Paladins threat. He retired Furman in order in the ninth to give Asheville its second straight victory over the Paladins.
Riley Smith and Justin Woods paced UNC Asheville's 13-hit game with 3-for-5 performances. Zayatz, meanwhile, went 2-for-5 with an RBI and scored two runs.
Asheville is 8-3 in games decided by three runs or less and 5-1 in one-run affairs.
The Bulldogs are scheduled to open Big South Conference play this weekend at home against Charleston Southern starting Friday at 4 p.m.
