University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
UNC Wilmington
Bulldogs Drop Opener to UNC Wilmington
04.02.2015 | Baseball
WILMINGTON, N.C. – An eight-run fifth inning upended the UNC Asheville baseball team in their series opener against UNC Wilmington Thursday night as the hosts grabbed a 17-5 victory.
Live video of tomorrow's game can be seen for free through UNC Wilmington by accessing this link. Live stats will be available for each game at this link.
The Bulldogs (15-15) scored single runs in the opening three innings and broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the top of the fifth inning, but UNCW (19-8) used a double and three singles to plate five runs in the bottom of the frame and didn't look back.
Senior Tommy Houmard finished with two hits as he reached base in his 18th consecutive game and was the only Asheville batter with multiple hits. Kyle Towles drove in a pair of RBI and added a hit, while Hunter Bryant and Erik Connolly each finished with a hit and RBI in the loss.
Seven total Bulldog pitchers toed the rubber, beginning with starter Jordan Fulbright's two innings of work in which he allowed two runs and three hits. Corey Randall (1-5) was saddled with the loss out of the bullpen, allowing four runs (three earned) on just two hits in his two innings of relief.
Asheville jumped on the board with Towles' sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning and added a second run on Connolly's RBI groundout an inning later. After UNCW took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the second via a Bulldog error and a double, the visitors knotted things up with Bryant's RBI single back up the middle in the third inning.
The Bulldogs took the lead in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Towles, who scored moments later on a Seahawk fielding error, but saw UNCW take the lead for good with their big inning in the bottom of the fifth.
UNCW added on a pair of runs in the sixth, highlighted by an RBI single, and four runs in the eighth, capped by a two-run double, to take the series opener.
Asheville and UNCW continue the series tomorrow night with a 6 p.m. start. Lucas Clarke (3-3, 3.76 ERA) is scheduled to get the start for the Bulldogs, while Ryan Foster (2-0, 3.63 ERA) is the probable starter for the Seahawks.
