University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Thursday, April 13
High Point, NC
6 PM
UNC Asheville
13-20, 4-6
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High Point
18-15, 6-7
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UNC Asheville
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High Point
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Photo by: UNC Asheville
Baseball Drops Series-Opener 5-2 at High Point
04.13.2017 | Baseball
HIGH POINT, N.C. – Despite jumping out to an early 1-0 lead, the UNC Asheville baseball team suffered a 5-2 setback at the hands of High Point Thursday evening in the first game of a Big South Conference series.
The Bulldogs (13-20, 4-6 Big South) edged out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when senior center fielder Joe Tietjen scored on a passed ball. Tietjen led off the game with a double down the left field line and advanced to third off a ground out by Chris Troost. Two at-bats later, Tietjen scored on the passed ball.
High Point (17-15, 6-7 Big South) knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first and went ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the third off a two-run home run by Josh Greene.
In the top of the fourth, Kyle Carruthers singled through the left side and when Carmine Pagano singled to right-center field, Carruthers rounded second and slid safely into third. Joe Gruszka then batted him in with a sacrifice fly to set the score at 3-2 in favor of the homestanding Panthers.
The Panthers edged out to a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of runs and held on for the three-run win.
Four different Bulldogs collected the UNC Asheville's hits highlighted by Tietjen's double in the top of the first. Carruthers, Pagano and Kole Harris all also had a hit in the game.
Derek Smith (0-2) earned his first collegiate start and pitched three innings, but was saddled with his second loss of the season. Brandon Harris, Eric Whitecavage and Austin Fahr all pitched in relief with Brandon Harris going 3.2 innings where he struck out two batters.
Jeremy Johnson (2-1) pitched the complete game in his first career start. Johnson recorded five strikeouts in the effort.
BULLDOG BITES
TOMORROW'S STARTING PITCHERS: UNC Asheville will send freshman left-hander Greg Gasparro to the mound on Friday night while High Point will turn to righty Drew Daczkowski to start the game. Gasparro will be making his seventh start of the year. The freshman has pitched 38.2 innings and is 2-2 on the year with 30 strikeouts, second-most on the squad.
HITTING STREAK TO WATCH: When Joe Tietjen led off the game with a single, it marked the fifth straight game the senior center fielder has garnered a hit.
MOVING ON UP: When Joe Tietjen crossed the plate in the top of the first, it was his 128th career run scored. That mark moves him into a tie for seventh all-time in program history in the category.
DOUBLEING THEM UP: The Bulldogs turned a 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the first inning. It was the 34th of the season for UNC Asheville, surpassing last season's total of 33. This season, UNC Asheville averages 1.03 double plays per game, good enough for tied for 28th in the nation. The Bulldogs entered the game 21st in the nation for double plays turned with 33.
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville and High Point will continue the series tomorrow, Friday, April 14, with a game that will be featured on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App. First pitch is slated for 7:02 p.m.
QUOTABLES
"Overall, I thought we played a pretty good baseball game. We did enough on the mound with Derek Smith starting to give ourselves a chance. For it being his first-ever start, he did well after he got through the rough first inning, minimizing the damage to just one run and Brandon Harris was able to come in and hold them at bay for a couple of innings to give us a chance. Defensively, I thought we were fine and played very well for the most part. I just think that we ran into a very good left-handed pitcher that could spin a breaking ball and we couldn't make the adjustment we needed to early and he was able to settle in and High Point did a very good job of playing defense and minimizing his pitches by making some very good plays." – Scott Friedholm
The Bulldogs (13-20, 4-6 Big South) edged out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when senior center fielder Joe Tietjen scored on a passed ball. Tietjen led off the game with a double down the left field line and advanced to third off a ground out by Chris Troost. Two at-bats later, Tietjen scored on the passed ball.
High Point (17-15, 6-7 Big South) knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first and went ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the third off a two-run home run by Josh Greene.
In the top of the fourth, Kyle Carruthers singled through the left side and when Carmine Pagano singled to right-center field, Carruthers rounded second and slid safely into third. Joe Gruszka then batted him in with a sacrifice fly to set the score at 3-2 in favor of the homestanding Panthers.
The Panthers edged out to a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of runs and held on for the three-run win.
Four different Bulldogs collected the UNC Asheville's hits highlighted by Tietjen's double in the top of the first. Carruthers, Pagano and Kole Harris all also had a hit in the game.
Derek Smith (0-2) earned his first collegiate start and pitched three innings, but was saddled with his second loss of the season. Brandon Harris, Eric Whitecavage and Austin Fahr all pitched in relief with Brandon Harris going 3.2 innings where he struck out two batters.
Jeremy Johnson (2-1) pitched the complete game in his first career start. Johnson recorded five strikeouts in the effort.
BULLDOG BITES
TOMORROW'S STARTING PITCHERS: UNC Asheville will send freshman left-hander Greg Gasparro to the mound on Friday night while High Point will turn to righty Drew Daczkowski to start the game. Gasparro will be making his seventh start of the year. The freshman has pitched 38.2 innings and is 2-2 on the year with 30 strikeouts, second-most on the squad.
HITTING STREAK TO WATCH: When Joe Tietjen led off the game with a single, it marked the fifth straight game the senior center fielder has garnered a hit.
MOVING ON UP: When Joe Tietjen crossed the plate in the top of the first, it was his 128th career run scored. That mark moves him into a tie for seventh all-time in program history in the category.
DOUBLEING THEM UP: The Bulldogs turned a 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the first inning. It was the 34th of the season for UNC Asheville, surpassing last season's total of 33. This season, UNC Asheville averages 1.03 double plays per game, good enough for tied for 28th in the nation. The Bulldogs entered the game 21st in the nation for double plays turned with 33.
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville and High Point will continue the series tomorrow, Friday, April 14, with a game that will be featured on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App. First pitch is slated for 7:02 p.m.
QUOTABLES
"Overall, I thought we played a pretty good baseball game. We did enough on the mound with Derek Smith starting to give ourselves a chance. For it being his first-ever start, he did well after he got through the rough first inning, minimizing the damage to just one run and Brandon Harris was able to come in and hold them at bay for a couple of innings to give us a chance. Defensively, I thought we were fine and played very well for the most part. I just think that we ran into a very good left-handed pitcher that could spin a breaking ball and we couldn't make the adjustment we needed to early and he was able to settle in and High Point did a very good job of playing defense and minimizing his pitches by making some very good plays." – Scott Friedholm
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: JOHNSON, Jeremy (2-1)
L: Smith, Derek (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Tietjen, Joe 1
RBI: Gruszka, Joe 1
SF: Gruszka, Joe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tietjen, Joe 1 ; Carruthers, Kyle 1
Batting:
HR: GREENE, Josh 1
RBI: GREENE, Josh 2 ; SCHUNK, Blake 1 ; DUNBAR, Conner 1
SH: SCHUNK, Blake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ZENTE, Austen 1 ; MANSFIELD, Tim 1 ; GREENE, Josh 1 ; SCHUNK, Blake 1 ; BROWN, Spencer 1
SB: SCHUNK, Blake 1 ; JACKSON, Carson 1 ; BROWN, Spencer 1
CS: MANSFIELD, Tim 1
HBP: ZENTE, Austen 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP/OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF/RHP
/ BaseballINF
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INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
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