University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
USC Upstate
Bulldog Baseball Set to Play Mid-Week Game at USC Upstate
02.21.2017 | Baseball
Asheville-USC Upstate Game Notes (PDF)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team begins a four-game stretch of games in Spartanburg, S.C., with a mid-week game at USC Upstate. The Bulldogs and Spartans will tangle on the diamond beginning at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
THE MATCHUP
Teams:Â UNC Asheville (1-2) at USC Upstate (0-3)
Location:Â Spartanburg, S.C. / Cleveland S. Harley Baseball Park
When:Â Wednesday, Feb. 22 / 4 p.m.
Live Stats:Â www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH USC UPSTATE: Wednesday's game will be the 23rd meeting between Asheville and USC Upstate with the Spartans owning an all-time series record of 15-7 over the Bulldogs. Upstate has claimed the last three meetings with Asheville having claimed the three prior. The first meeting came back during the 1986 season.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS: USC Upstate began the season with a three-game series at home against Virginia Tech. The Hokies swept the series by scores of 11-3, 9-8 and 8-2. Charlie Carpenter and Drake Harris both batted over .400 for the series. Carpenter scored twice and batted two runs in to go along with a pair of doubles while Harris scored once and batted two other runners in. Both boasted an on-base percentage of .500. The Spartans were unsuccessful in two attempts to steal a base and committed six errors in the field over the weekend. On the mound, Will Wheeler, Wednesday's starter for USC Upstate, made a pair of appearances for 2.0 innings. The Spartans' pitching staff comes into Wednesday with a collective 6.67 ERA and an opponent batting average of .325 compared to 32 strikeouts.
THE STARTING PITCHERS: UNC Asheville will look to sophomore left-handed pitcher Austin Fahr to start Wednesday's game against USC Upstate while the Spartans will start right-handed freshman Will Wheeler. Wednesday will be the 2017 debut for Fahr. In 2016, he made 17 appearances, including three starts, and finished the year with a 2-1 record, 6.17 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 35.0 innings of work. Wheeler has already made two appearances on the young season for USC Upstate and boasts a 4.50 ERA. In 2.0 innings of work, he has given up three hits, one earned run and struck out two batters while not giving up a walk.
LAST TIME OUT (2/19/17): The UNC Asheville baseball team benefitted from timely hitting from both upperclassmen and underclassmen alike, Sunday afternoon as the Bulldogs claimed a 6-4 win over Samford in the series finale. The Asheville Bulldogs notched the first win of the season by scoring single runs in the fourth and sixth innings and two runs in each of the fifth and ninth, answering the call from Samford, which scored all four of their runs in the bottom of the fourth. Senior outfielder Joe Tietjen got things going in the top of the fourth for the visiting Bulldogs with a solo home run to right field. It was the first homer of the season for Asheville. However, the lead didn't last for long as Samford came roaring back in the bottom of the frame with runs scored off a wild pitch, back-to-back home runs and a double. Despite the blow, Asheville stuck to its game plan and steadily worked over the remaining innings to overcome the deficit. In the top of the fifth, sophomore Danny Wilson batted in fellow sophomore Carmine Pagano. A few batters later, freshman Brandon Lankford smashed a home run to left field, setting the score at 4-3 in favor of Samford, but setting up a whole new ballgame. With a new lease on life, the Asheville Bulldogs tied the game up at 4-all in the top of the sixth when Pagano singled to right-center field, scoring redshirt junior Tanner Bush. The next two and a half innings passed by scoreless, despite both squads putting men on. But in the top of the ninth, Asheville loaded the bases with two outs and redshirt freshman Jake Madole came in to pinch hit. Despite being an underclassman, Madole showed a lot of patience and drew a walk, driving Pagano in for the go-ahead run. Justin Woods followed suit and also drew a walk to score freshman Chris Troost to give the Bulldogs an insurance run. Troost led the way at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance and one run scored. In total, six different Bulldogs registered a hit while Pagano scored two runs. Senior left-handed pitcher Spencer Orr got the start on the mound for Asheville and pitched a solid 5.1 innings, including striking out two batters. Freshman Kole Harris came in to record the win and gave up just one hit while striking out the first two batters he faced to pick up his first collegiate win. Woods earned the first Bulldog save of the season, pitching the final frame. Tristan Wildra was the pitcher of record for Samford, pitching 2.0 innings while giving up two unearned runs.
TROOST NAMED FIRST-EVER BIG SOUTH FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: UNC Asheville baseball true freshman Chris Troost has been named the first-ever Big South Conference's Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week as announced by the conference office Monday afternoon. Troost led the way offensively for Asheville during the opening weekend series at Samford. The 5-8 Medford, N.J., native batted .444 through the three-game series and boasted an on-base percentage of .615 while scoring a run and batting in another. He showed enough improvement over the weekend to move up from the seven-hole of the lineup to the two-hole. In the season-opener on Friday, Troost showed a lot of patience in the batter's box to draw three walks compared to just one strikeout and also had an RBI. In Sunday's series finale, Troost went 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and also drew another walk. He scored his run in the ninth inning to add an important insurance run, helping Asheville defeat Samford 6-4 for the first win of the season.
YOUNG GUNS STEPPING UP: While senior Joe Tietjen got things started in Sunday's series finale with a solo homer in the top of the fourth, three freshmen and two sophomores carried the load down the stretch. Freshman Brandon Lankford was the first freshman to record a home run on the season. Fellow true freshman Chris Troost went 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and dual threat Kole Harris came on to record the win on the mound with 2.0 innings of pitching. Sophomore Carmine Paganoscored a pair of runs and batted in another while Danny Wilson batted in another run.
BREAKING THE TREND: When freshman left-handed pitcher Greg Gasparro got the start Friday in the season-opener, it was the first time in at least 10 years that a freshman had started for UNC Asheville. It also broke a streak of at least 10 years where a right-hander started the first game of the season. Gasparro had an admirable debut, going 4.0 innings, striking out three batters and not giving up a single run.
FRESHMEN ON OPENING DAY: Four freshmen started the season-opener for Asheville Friday evening. Brandon Lankford recorded the first hit and the first RBI of the season for the Bulldogs while Greg Gasparro recorded the first strikeout of the season for the Bulldog pitchers. Also earning starts as freshmen were Kole Harris and Chris Troost, who drew a two-out walk in the top of the eighth inning with the bases loaded.
THIRD SEASON FOR FRIEDHOLM AND CREW: 2017 will mark the third season for head coach Scott Friedholm and his coaching staff in Asheville. While the first two seasons have seen growing pains, there have also been plenty of positives to build off. Last season included a huge road win over 11th-ranked North Carolina as well as series wins over Mount St. Mary's, Presbyterian and Charleston Southern. Friedholm will have a roster of 26 players to work with this spring, including eight true freshmen. He returns 18 players from last year's roster, including four of the top five offensive producers from last season's team. While the team is young, Friedholm won't be afraid to ask his team to compete.
TIETJEN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE BY PERFECT GAME: UNC Asheville baseball player Joe Tietjen has been named to the Perfect Game Preseason Big South All-Conference Team by the staff of Perfect Game and was listed in the top-five of the top prospects of the conference for this year's graduating class. A senior outfielder from Waxhaw, N.C., Tietjen was named to the Big South All-Conference Second Team following the 2016 season. During his junior campaign, he led the team in nine offensive statistical categories, including batting average (.344), runs scored (44), hits (74), home runs (10) and stolen bases (12). He also boasted a .553 slugging percentage, batted in 55 runs and collected 119 total bases in 215 at bats. For his career, Tietjen boasts a .306 batting average, has scored 101 runs, collected 145 hits and has driven in 90 runs. He has also swiped 23 bases and has 342 putouts in the field.
UP NEXT: Following the mid-week game at USC Upstate, the Bulldogs will remain in Spartanburg for another three games. Asheville will play Dayton and James Madison in neutral-site games on Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, Feb. 25. Friday's game against Dayton will be a 12 p.m. first pitch at Wofford while Saturday's game with JMU will be played at USC Upstate and will also be a high noon first pitch. The Bulldogs will then play Wofford on Sunday at 4 p.m.
QUOTABLES
"We will be looking for the same thing in this game that we look for whether it is a mid-week game or part of a series and that is consistency, focus and to play a complete nine innings. It shouldn't matter who the opponent is, we're going out there to play a baseball game and we want to play our best every single day." – Scott Friedholm
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