University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Tennessee
Bulldogs Push Vols to Limit, Fall in Extra Innings
05.12.2015 | Baseball
KNOXVILLE, TN – The UNC Asheville baseball team went toe-to-toe with the University of Tennessee on Tuesday night, taking the game into extra innings before the Volunteers walked off with a 4-3 win in the bottom of the tenth inning.
The Bulldogs (21-31) traded runs with the Volunteers (21-25) throughout the contest, with Asheville knotting the game up at 3-3 in the top of the sixth inning on Justin Woods' RBI double, the final scoring until the 10th inning.
In the tenth, Tennessee received a leadoff double and eventually had themselves runners at first and third with two outs for Nick Senzel, who stepped to the plate and sent the first pitch he saw into deep center field over everyone's head for the walkoff double.
Senzel, the Tennessee leadoff batter, finished with two hits – the walkoff double, and a solo homer in the bottom of the first.
Asheville's Tyler Hughes, the sixth pitcher of the night, was the tough luck loser after coming into the game in the top of the 10th inning. Bulldog starter Spencer Orr turned in a solid start, allowing three runs on five hits and four walks and exiting with the game tied at 3-3.
The five Bulldog relievers – Corey Randall, Adam Spracklin, Parker Swindell, Nick Schavone and Hughes – allowed just four Tennessee hits and six walks over the final 4 2/3 innings. Schavone tossed two innings, bridging the gap to extra frames in the eighth and ninth innings and getting out of a bases loaded situation in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to the 10th.
Woods was the only Asheville batter with multiple hits, as Joe Zayatz, Tommy Houmard (RBI), Hunter Bryant, Erik Connolly, Pete Guy (double) and Kyle Carruthers all notched one hit.
Houmard gave the Bulldogs the early lead with his solo home run down the left field line in the top of the first inning, followed up by Senzel's solo homer in the bottom of the frame to tie the score.
Asheville regained the lead in the fourth when Kyle Towles reached on a Volunteer error and Connolly was able to cross the plate.
Tennessee took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the fifth, using a two-run double by A.J. Simcox to jump ahead 3-2.
The Bulldogs clawed back in the top of the sixth, using Woods' RBI double to left field to bring home Bryant and tie things up.
Asheville turned an inning-ending double play to get out of a jam in the seventh, followed up by Tennessee's double play to erase Bulldog pressure in the top of the eighth.
Schavone came into the game with a runner on in the eighth, striking out a pair before Guy gunned down the Volunteer runners' attempt to take second base to end the inning and get the Bulldogs out of the jam.
In the ninth, Asheville wasn't able to do anything with Guy's two-out double, sending the game to the bottom of the ninth. Tennessee used a leadoff single in the ninth and eventually got the bases loaded with two outs before Schavone induced a slow-rolling ground ball to second to end the threat.
The Bulldog 10th began with a leadoff double from Zayatz, who was bunted over to second base. Houmard was intentionally walked to bring Bryant to the plate, who struck out for the second out of the frame. With two on, the Volunteers got Connolly to ground out to end the frame and set up the bottom of the 10th inning.
Asheville returns home to wrap up the 2015 campaign with a three-game Big South Conference series beginning Thursday night at 6 p.m. against visiting Radford. Friday's game is scheduled for 3 p.m. and Saturday has a tentative 1 p.m. first pitch.
