University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Charleston Southern
Bulldogs Win Series Finale with Charleston Southern
03.16.2015 | Baseball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Joe Zayatz threw seven innings and allowed just two runs to earn his first win of the season as he guided UNC Asheville past Charleston Southern, 9-4, in the series finale Monday afternoon at Greenwood Field.
The top of the Bulldog lineup gave Zayatz plenty of support at the plate. Tommy Houmard and Lucas Owens were a combined 4-of-6 at the plate and accounted for six runs and three RBI. Hunter Bryant added two hits, giving him six hits overall in the series.
Asheville (9-10, 1-2 Big South Conference) plated six runs in the opening three innings to jump out in front, but Charleston Southern (10-7, 2-1 BSC) scored a single run in the fourth and a pair of runs in the eighth before the Bulldogs finished things off with three runs of their own in the bottom of the eighth.
In the opening inning, Asheville used a two-out double by Pete Guy to get on the board and followed that up moments later with a Bryant RBI single to stake themselves to a 3-0 lead. The hosts added to the advantage with Owens' two-run homer in the second and Bryant's RBI double in the third to push the lead to 6-0.
Charleston Southern cut into the advantage on Andrew Widell's RBI double in the fourth and plated two runs in the top of the eighth via a sacrifice fly and a solo home run by Chase Shelton to pull within three runs.
The Bulldogs answered with three runs in their half of the eighth, sending eight men to the plate as part of a three-run frame highlighted by RBI singles by Houmard, Towles and Tietjen to pad the lead for good.
Asheville steps out of conference play for a Tuesday afternoon contest against Appalachian State tomorrow afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Greenwood Field.
