Bulldog Baseball Set to Host CSU this Weekend

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team opens Big South Conference play this weekend when the Bulldogs host Charleston Southern at Greenwood Field starting on Saturday at 3 p.m. Asheville's series with the Bucs will continue Sunday at 1 p.m. and finish up Monday at 3 p.m.

The series is being pushed back a day due to heavy rain forecast in the Asheville area on Friday. Fans will be able to watch Sunday and Monday's game on the Big South Network at this link.

Asheville (8-8) enters the first weekend of Big South Conference play with wins in three of their last four games, including two one-run wins over Furman in mid-week play. The Dogs rallied past Furman in 10 innings, 9-8 on Tuesday at Greenwood Field and then held off the Paladins on Wednesday, 7-6 in Greenville.

The Bulldogs have learned to win close games in the first part of the season. All of Asheville's eight wins have come by three runs or less. Scott Friedholm's club is 5-1 in one-run games and won their last five one-run affairs.

Asheville faces a tough challenge this weekend in Charleston Southern. The Buccaneers are 8-6 on the year and are hitting .312 as a team. CSU always seems to play well at Greenwood Field. The Bucs have won every series they've played on Asheville's campus since 1996. Asheville has only won one home series against the Bucs since 1994 and that was a three-game sweep at McCormick Field in 2010. The teams played last year at Greenwood Field with CSU sweeping the three-game set.

“There are no easy games in the Big South Conference,” admitted Friedlholm. “Stuart Lake does a great job at Charleston Southern. They're playing good baseball right now, and they can really hit.

“We just need to play the best we can and continue to compete,” added Friedholm. “Right now we're just worrying about how we play.”

Asheville is having a nice offensive year, led by catcher Lucas Owens. He's second in the Big South in hitting with a .417 average. Owens will carry a 12-game hitting streak into this weekend's action. Joe Zayatz has been hot at the plate as well and has a .406 average.

The Bulldogs are scheduled to start right-hander Corey Randall on Saturday (1-2, 6.77 ERA), left-hander Lucas Clarke (2-1, 1.93 ERA) and right-hander Joe Zayatz (0-4, 4.70 ERA) on Monday.

BULLDOG NOTES

UNC Asheville plays its next 10 games at home, including a BSC series with Coastal Carolina next weekend (March 20-22). The Dogs have added a game with Appalachian State on Tuesday, March 17 at 3 p.m.

Asheville leads the nation in turning double-plays at 1.47 per game. The Bulldogs are second in total doubles plays at 22.

Asheville is coming close to matching last year's win total of 13. The Bulldogs are 8-8 after 16 games and are four games ahead of last year's pace when they were 4-12.

Reliever Nick Schavone is second in the Big South in saves with four.

Joe Zayatz went 5-for-10 at the plate against Furman with three doubles and four runs scored plus two RBIs.

Asheville is 5-19 against Charleston Southern at Greenwood Field since 1996. The Buccaneers have won the last eight series against the Bulldogs at Greenwood Field.

The Bulldogs have played good defense in the last 11 games. Asheville had 20 errors after the first five games of the season but have only had 11 in the last 11 games.

Asheville is ninth nationally in sacrifice flies with 11.

Pete Guy has eight RBIs in his last six games he's played in for the Bulldogs.