University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Sunday, February 26
Spartanburg, SC
4 PM
UNC Asheville
3-4
7
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Wofford
2-5
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5
6
7
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9
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H
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UNC Asheville
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7
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Wofford
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2
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6
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Photo by: UNC Asheville
Baseball Comes From Behind to Down Wofford 7-6
02.26.2017 | Baseball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Justin Woods has just about done it all this week, and Sunday he added to his already impressive week as he came on to pitch the final two innings against Wofford as he earned the 7-6 win on the mound for the UNC Asheville baseball team, including striking out the final batter of the game.
The Bulldogs (3-4) fell behind 5-0 through the first two innings, but remained resilient and responded in a big way late in the game.
Asheville began the comeback by scoring single runs in the third and fourth frames. Carmine Pagano got things going when he hit a shot to center field in the third inning, scoring Danny Wilson from third and in the next inning, Wilson doubled down the right field line to score Brandon Lankford and set the score at 5-2.
Wofford (2-5) scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, but starter Spencer Orr, Woods and the Bulldog defense didn't allow another run from there, including retiring 10 straight batters at one point late in the game.
Asheville then did what they have done a lot of early in the season, scoring in bunches. Only this time it came at the end of the game, not at the beginning. In the eighth frame, the Bulldogs plated three runs, including two off a Lankford homer that also scored Chris Troost. Later in the inning, with bases loaded, Kole Harris drew a walk and pushed Woods across the plate to pull the Bulldogs to within one.
Wofford was able to delay the inevitable by getting out of the eighth, but in the ninth, the Bulldogs struck again, this time for two runs. Tanner Bush hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Derek Smith to tie the game and then, with bases loaded, Joe Gruszka wore a pitch and pushed Lankford across for the go-ahead run.
Despite being ahead, the heroics were not done as Wofford got a runner aboard in the bottom of the ninth, but Gruszka gunned the pinch runner out at second, setting Woods up to record the final out via strikeout.
At the plate, Lankford led the way with a 2-for-4 performance, including scoring three runs and batting in two more. The freshman third baseman now has three home runs and eight RBIs on the season. Danny Wislon and Andrew Friedholm also both had two hits in the game with Wilson going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI while Friedholm went 2-for-3 at the dish.
Orr had a solid day as the Bulldogs' starter, pitching seven innings that saw the senior southpaw strike out six batters. Woods (1-0) then came on for the final two innings, striking out two batters and giving up just one hit.
Wofford relied on seven pitchers in the game with starter Austin Higginbotham pitching 6.2 innings while giving up six hits and two earned runs. Grant Byers (0-1) ended up being the pitcher of record.
BULLDOG BITES
A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING: Senior Justin Woods has done a little bit of everything this week while in Spartanburg. Between the Bulldogs' four games, he has batted in nine runs, hit a grand slam, recorded multiple outs in the outfield and pitched two innings, striking out two batters, including the final out of Sunday's game.
LANKFORD GOES YARD: Freshman third baseman Brandon Lankford leads the team with three home runs this season.
ORR MOWING THEM DOWN: Starting pitcher Spencer Orr gave the Bulldogs seven solid innings on the mound and recorded six strikeouts, giving him a team-high eight for the season.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs have two mid-week games at Western Carolina and Furman this week before opening their home slate against Iona. Asheville first travels to Cullowhee, N.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 28 to take on the Catamounts at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs then travel to Greenville, S.C., for a Wednesday, March 1 6 p.m. game against the Paladins.
QUOTABLES
"I'm proud of the way our guys responded after yesterday and a tough first two innings today. Spencer Orr did a good job starting and Justin Woods was terrific tonight. Everyone contributed up and down the lineup. I was also happy for Tanner Bush and Joe Gruszka for coming off the bench and driving in the tying and winning runs." - Scott Friedholm
The Bulldogs (3-4) fell behind 5-0 through the first two innings, but remained resilient and responded in a big way late in the game.
Asheville began the comeback by scoring single runs in the third and fourth frames. Carmine Pagano got things going when he hit a shot to center field in the third inning, scoring Danny Wilson from third and in the next inning, Wilson doubled down the right field line to score Brandon Lankford and set the score at 5-2.
Wofford (2-5) scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, but starter Spencer Orr, Woods and the Bulldog defense didn't allow another run from there, including retiring 10 straight batters at one point late in the game.
Asheville then did what they have done a lot of early in the season, scoring in bunches. Only this time it came at the end of the game, not at the beginning. In the eighth frame, the Bulldogs plated three runs, including two off a Lankford homer that also scored Chris Troost. Later in the inning, with bases loaded, Kole Harris drew a walk and pushed Woods across the plate to pull the Bulldogs to within one.
Wofford was able to delay the inevitable by getting out of the eighth, but in the ninth, the Bulldogs struck again, this time for two runs. Tanner Bush hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Derek Smith to tie the game and then, with bases loaded, Joe Gruszka wore a pitch and pushed Lankford across for the go-ahead run.
Despite being ahead, the heroics were not done as Wofford got a runner aboard in the bottom of the ninth, but Gruszka gunned the pinch runner out at second, setting Woods up to record the final out via strikeout.
At the plate, Lankford led the way with a 2-for-4 performance, including scoring three runs and batting in two more. The freshman third baseman now has three home runs and eight RBIs on the season. Danny Wislon and Andrew Friedholm also both had two hits in the game with Wilson going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI while Friedholm went 2-for-3 at the dish.
Orr had a solid day as the Bulldogs' starter, pitching seven innings that saw the senior southpaw strike out six batters. Woods (1-0) then came on for the final two innings, striking out two batters and giving up just one hit.
Wofford relied on seven pitchers in the game with starter Austin Higginbotham pitching 6.2 innings while giving up six hits and two earned runs. Grant Byers (0-1) ended up being the pitcher of record.
BULLDOG BITES
A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING: Senior Justin Woods has done a little bit of everything this week while in Spartanburg. Between the Bulldogs' four games, he has batted in nine runs, hit a grand slam, recorded multiple outs in the outfield and pitched two innings, striking out two batters, including the final out of Sunday's game.
LANKFORD GOES YARD: Freshman third baseman Brandon Lankford leads the team with three home runs this season.
ORR MOWING THEM DOWN: Starting pitcher Spencer Orr gave the Bulldogs seven solid innings on the mound and recorded six strikeouts, giving him a team-high eight for the season.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs have two mid-week games at Western Carolina and Furman this week before opening their home slate against Iona. Asheville first travels to Cullowhee, N.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 28 to take on the Catamounts at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs then travel to Greenville, S.C., for a Wednesday, March 1 6 p.m. game against the Paladins.
QUOTABLES
"I'm proud of the way our guys responded after yesterday and a tough first two innings today. Spencer Orr did a good job starting and Justin Woods was terrific tonight. Everyone contributed up and down the lineup. I was also happy for Tanner Bush and Joe Gruszka for coming off the bench and driving in the tying and winning runs." - Scott Friedholm
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Woods, Justin (1-0)
L: Byers (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Wilson, Danny 2
HR: Lankford, Brandon 1
RBI: Pagano, Carmine 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 2 ; Bush, Tanner 1 ; Wilson, Danny 1 ; Gruszka, Joe 1 ; Harris, Kole 1
SF: Bush, Tanner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Troost, Chris 1 ; Smith, Derek 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 3 ; Woods, Justin 1 ; Wilson, Danny 1
SB: Pagano, Carmine 1
HBP: Woods, Justin 1 ; Gruszka, Joe 1
Batting:
HR: Waln 1
RBI: Ruedisili 1 ; Massey 1 ; Waln 3
SH: Rodriguez 1
SF: Ruedisili 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ruedisili 1 ; Massey 1 ; Hash 1 ; Waln 1 ; Malsch 1 ; Nathanson 1
SB: Ruedisili 1 ; Massey 1
CS: Massey 1 ; Orzel 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
rf/1b
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
dh/p
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF/RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF/RHP
/ BaseballOF/RHP
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