Bulldogs Head to Tennessee in Final Non-Conference Matchup

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team will make its final road trip of the season when the Bulldogs travel over the mountains to take on the Tennessee Volunteers tonight at 6 p.m.

Live stats of tonight's game are available at this link, the Tennessee radio broadcast is available via this link, and video is available online through WatchESPN at this link.

The Bulldogs (21-30) enter tonight's game coming off of a Big South Conference weekend series at High Point, winning on Friday night before dropping the final two games of the weekend.

Tennessee (20-25) split a pair of games at Arkansas last weekend, winning the opener and also seeing the third game of the series washed out. The Volunteers are 5-5 over their last 10 games.

To date, the Big South is 4-8 overall against the SEC, but tonight's matchup will be the first time this year that a Big South school has faced Tennessee.

In 29 overall contests between Tennessee and UNC Asheville since 1987, Tennessee holds a 22-7 advantage over the Bulldogs and is 7-3 in the last 10 matchups. Asheville won the last matchup between the teams, a 7-5 victory last May in Knoxville. The Bulldogs jumped out to a five-run lead before Tennessee came back to tie the score. Asheville took advantage of a two-error seventh frame to pull ahead and secure the victory.

The Bulldogs are 8-14 on the road this season and feature a non-conference record above .500 (16-14), and have been outstanding with the lead after six innings, notching a 17-3 record to date in that situation.

Left-hander Spencer Orr will get the start for Asheville, entering with a 3-0 record and a 5.22 ERA in 13 total appearances (six starts). Opponents are hitting .267 against him with 12 extra-base hits in his 39 2/3 innings of work (40 total hits).

The Bulldogs enter the game against the Volunteers hitting .256 as a team with a 6.37 team ERA. Tommy Houmard leads the team with a .370 batting average and Hunter Bryant ranks second with a .347 average and a team-high 40 RBI.

Entering tonight's game, Nick Senzel leads Tennessee with a .335 batting average, followed by Andrew Lee's .317 average. Christin Stewart leads the team with 42 RBI.

Right-hander Kyle Serrano will get the ball for the Volunteers, entering with a 4-4 record and a 5.08 ERA in his seven starts (18 appearances) this season. In his 44 1/3 innings of work, opponents are hitting .230 against him with 13 extra base hits.

BULLDOG NOTES:

--Through the weekend series, senior Hunter Bryant has reached base in 30 consecutive games.

--Bryant's home run on Saturday was his 12^th of the season, the most by a single player since 2008.

-- UNC Asheville is No. 12 in the nation in total double plays with 50 (as of 5/7) and are No. 20 in the country in double plays per game with 1.04 per game (as of 5/7). The Bulldogs are No. 4 in the country in total sacrifice flies with 29 (as of 5/7). All three rankings are tops in the Big South in each categories.

--The Bulldogs are No. 16 in the country with 230 base on balls drawn (as of 5/7), also leading the BSC.

--Joe Zayatz is No. 16 in the country in Strikeout-to-Walk ratio (6.13 per game) and is No. 13 in Walks Allowed per Nine Innings (0.99). Both are tops in the BSC.

--Hunter Bryant leads the conference in total bases (108 as of 5/7).