University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Liberty
Late Comeback Falls Just Short for Bulldogs Friday Night
03.25.2016 | Baseball
THE RUNDOWN
Scores: Liberty 6 – Asheville 5
Teams: Asheville (5-17, 0-5 BSC)
Liberty (15-10, 2-0 BSC)
Location: Liberty Baseball Stadium / Lynchburg, VA
Saturday: LIVE VIDEO (ESPN3) - LIVE STATS
LYNCHBURG, VA – A three-run ninth inning rally had the tying run on base for UNC Asheville on Friday night before Liberty shut the door and handed the Bulldogs a 6-5 loss in Lynchburg.
THE TURNING POINT
Trailing all night, Asheville entered the eighth inning down one run at 3-2. Liberty used a leadoff double to open the bottom of the eighth as the start of a three-run inning, scoring the first run of the frame on a squeeze bunt before a two-run single brought home what turned out to be the winning run. The Bulldogs got out of the inning with Liberty having the bases loaded to set up their chance in the ninth.
NOTABLES
-Asheville finished with nine total hits on the night, with three coming off the bat of freshman Alex Baratta, who drove in a team-best three runs and tallied a triple. Kyle Carruthers finished with two hits, while four other Bulldogs had one hit apiece.
-Bulldog starter Jordan Carr was saddled with the loss after tossing 6 2/3 innings and allowing three runs on nine hits with four walks. Liberty starter Victor Cole earned his second win of the year after 5 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts.
-Asheville left 13 runners on base in the game.
-Liberty finished with 11 hits, led by three hits apiece from Will Shepherd (two RBIs) and Andrew Yacyk.
-Liberty jumped out to a two run lead after tallying five hits in the bottom of the first inning before Carr and the Bulldogs escaped the inning and stranded the bases loaded. The Flames added a third run on an RBI groundout in the third inning.
-The Bulldogs cut into the deficit in the top of the sixth inning on Baratta's two-run triple down the right field line that brought home Carruthers and Danny Wilson.
-The game remained at 3-2 Liberty until the eighth inning, when the Flames plated the three runs on two hits before Asheville left the bases loaded.
-In the ninth, Wilson and Carruthers reached on back-to-back singles before Kobos' RBI double. Baratta brought in a second run on a RBI groundout for the inning's second out before Justin Woods delivered a pinch hit RBI double to cut the deficit to one run.
-Liberty's Shane Quarterly came out of the bullpen and got Carmine Pagano to fly out to center field to end the night.
UP NEXT
-Following tonight's loss, Asheville wraps up the series with Liberty Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Saturday's game will be available on ESPN3.
