University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Wofford
Six-Run Sixth Inning Lifts Asheville Past Wofford
05.04.2016 | Baseball
THE RUNDOWN
Score: Asheville 10 – Wofford 8
Teams: Asheville (15-27, 5-10 BSC)
Wofford (26-21, 8-7 SoCon)
Location: Greenwood Field / Asheville, N.C.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – UNC Asheville used a six-run sixth inning to add on what proved to be needed runs as the Bulldogs shut the door in the ninth with the bases full of Wofford base runners as Asheville defeated the visitors 10-8 in non-conference action Wednesday night.
THE TURNING POINT
Leading 4-3 entering the frame, Asheville plated six runs on six hits in the sixth inning, including four hits that drove in runs, capped by Danny Wilson's two-out, two-run double that drove home what proved to be the winning runs.
NOTABLES
-The Bulldogs saw five players each tally two hits in the win, combining for 10 of the team's 13 total hits. Wilson led the way with his two-hit, three RBI performance, while Carmine Pagano drove in two runs along with his two hits and Joe Tietjen finished with two hits, including a two-run homer in the first inning to give Asheville a lead it would never surrender. Scott Kobos and Derek Smith each finished with two hits as well.
-Starter Spencer Orr notched his third win of the season, tossing the opening two innings as part of a staff day for the Bulldog pitching staff. Brett Hyers, the ninth and final Asheville pitcher of the night, earned his first collegiate save after coming on and getting the final out in the ninth inning with the bases full of Wofford base runners.
-Pete Guy finished with one hit, an RBI single as part of the sixth inning, and also drew one walk to pull back within one of the national leaders. Guy now has 49 total base on balls this season and has now run his on-base streak to 27 consecutive games.
-Wofford used a RBI double to get on the board first in the top of the first inning before the Bulldogs used Tietjen's two-run homer to take the lead in the bottom of the frame. Asheville added a single run in the second via Pagano's sacrifice fly before the visitors answered with a run in the top of the third on a two-out RBI single, but Tietjen gunned down the attempted second runner at the plate to end the inning and keep the Bulldogs in front.
-Asheville added a single run in the bottom of the third on Wilson's RBI single before seeing the visitors cut into the lead with a solo home run in the top of the sixth.
-The bottom of the sixth inning saw the Bulldogs tally the six hits – five of them as singles – as part of the six-run frame, highlighted by RBI singles from Pagano and Guy, and a two-run single by Kyle Carruthers before Wilson's two-out, two-run double capped the inning's scoring.
-Wofford made things interesting in the late innings, first plating three runs in the top of the eighth inning on three RBI singles before stranding a pair of runners. In the ninth, the visitors drew four walks and tallied two hits and used a Bulldog error to cut the deficit to 10-8 and had the bases loaded before Hyers came on and induced a groundout to end the night.
UP NEXT
-Following today's win, the Bulldogs hit the road for a Big South Conference weekend in Virginia against Longwood. Due to forecasted weather for Thursday and Friday, the series has been shifted and will now be played Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Start times for Saturday and Sunday will be 2:00 p.m., while Monday's finale will be a 1:00 p.m. start.
