University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Friday, April 21
Buies Creek, NC
6 PM
UNC Asheville
at
Campbell
Photo by: UNC Asheville
Bulldog Baseball Travels to Campbell for Weekend Series
04.20.2017 | Baseball
Asheville-Campbell Series Notes (PDF)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team remains on the road this weekend for a three-game Big South Conference series at Campbell. The series begins Friday, April 21, with a 6 p.m. first pitch and continues on Saturday, April 22, when the Camels and Bulldogs square off again at 3 p.m. The series finale will be on Sunday, April 23, and will feature a 2 p.m. first pitch.
THE MATCHUP
Teams:Â UNC Asheville (15-22, 5-7 Big South) at Campbell (17-20, 5-7 Big South)
Location:Â Buies Creek, N.C. / Jim Perry Stadium
When: Friday, April 21 – 6 PM / Saturday, April 22 – 3 PM / Sunday, April 23 – 2 PM
Live Stats:Â www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
INSIDE THE SERIES: UNC Asheville and Campbell have met 47 times dating back to the 1985 season with the Camels controlling the series 32-15. In the Bulldogs' NCAA Division I era, Campbell is 26-14 against the Bulldogs and as Big South Conference foes, the Camels control the regular-season series 21-8. Campbell enters the weekend having won seven straight over the Bulldogs, but the two have not met since the 2014 season with the last Asheville win coming during the 2012 campaign.
SCOUTING THE CAMELS: Campbell enters the weekend series having broken up a five-game losing skid with a 4-2 road win over N.C. Central earlier this week. The Camels have lost six of their last eight games, including dropping two of three at High Point and getting swept by Radford last weekend. The Camels are 17-20 on the year and 5-7 in Big South play, having taken two of three from both Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb. At home, Campbell is 9-13 on the year. The Camels boast one of the most aggressive and potent offenses in the league as they lead the Big South Conference in stolen bases (68), runs batted in (206) and doubles (72). They are also second in the league in slugging percentage (.420), runs scored (224), on-base percentage (.374) and home runs (37). Campbell is led by Matthew Barefoot's .364 batting average and 37 runs batted in. He is second in the league for batting average and is first in hits (55), RBIs (37) and doubles (15). On the base paths, Drew Butler and Adam Wyse lead the way with 27 and 11 stolen bases. Butler leads the league in bases swiped while Wyse is tied for ninth. On the mound, Campbell has turned to Alex Yarem on Saturdays and Ryan Kirk on Sundays. Allan Winans was the Friday starter for the first three Big South Conference weekend series, but was replaced by Andrew Witczak last weekend at home against Radford. Kirk, Yarem and Winans are all right-handers while Witzcak is a southpaw. Witzcak and Winans are the elder statesmen of the group as both are redshirt juniors. Yarem is a redshirt sophomore and Kirk is a true freshman. Yarem leads the quartet with a 3.40 ERA and 31 strikeouts while Kirk boasts the most wins of the group at three.
WEEKEND ROTATION: The Bulldogs' weekend rotation will see Greg Gasparro toe the rubber first on Friday with Spencer Orr getting the start on Saturday. Sunday's start will belong to Joe Zayatz. Gasparro, a freshman left-hander, will be making his eighth start of the year and 13th appearance. He is 2-3 on the year with a 4.89 ERA in 42.1 innings of work. He has struck out 33 batters. Orr, the Bulldogs' typical game-three starter, will make his 10th start of the year and takes a 2.67 ERA and 2-3 record into the weekend. In 54.0 innings of work, Orr has struck out a team-best 46 batters. Zayatz will make his fourth start of the season on Sunday. He boasts a 0.60 ERA and 2-0 record in 15.0 innings of work. He has struck out 13 batters and has held his opposition to a .200 batting average.
GUNNING RUNNERS DOWN: In last weekend's road series at High Point, UNC Asheville caught five runners attempting to steal bases, including three on Friday. The Bulldogs are currently in the midst of a five-game stretch of having caught at least one runner attempting to steal. Freshman Joe Gruszka has gunned down six runners during the stretch. On the year, the Bulldogs have caught 26 runners attempting to steal, a mark that has them second in the league in the category. The 26 runners caught stealing marks a +10 improvement from last season. UNC Asheville caught 16 runners attempting to steal bases last season, 28 in 2015, 21 in 2014, 23 in 2013 and 20 in 2012.
PICKING 'EM OFF: UNC Asheville's pitching corps is tied for second in the Big South Conference with nine pickoffs on the year, including one Tuesday night at home against USC Upstate when Justin Woods picked Brett Hawkins off at second in the top of the seventh.
TURNING DOUBLE PLAYS: The Bulldogs have turned 35 double plays on the year, two more than all of last year. This season, the Bulldogs are amongst the best in the nation in the category.
SHOWING IMPROVEMENT: At this point last season, the 2016 Bulldogs were 12-25, 4-8 in conference play and had three series wins to their credit, but had also been swept three times. This season, UNC Asheville has shown solid improvements in most facets of the game as they are 15-22 with series wins over Iona, UMBC and Presbyterian as well as taking two of three during the tournament in Spartanburg in the second weekend of the year. This year's Bulldogs have taken at least one game in each of their weekend series, and had opportunities to claim four of their dropped series.
CANNONS FOR ARMS IN THE OUTFIELD: UNC Asheville boasts 13 outfield assists on the year. The mark has the Bulldogs third in the country in the category. Joe Tietjen leads the outfielders with four assists, a mark that has him tied for fifth in the nation in the category. Danny Wilson and Justin Woods both have three assists in the outfield. Kyle Carruthers has two and Tanner Bush has one.
TIETJEN LEAVING HIS MARK: Senior center fielder Joe Tietjen is in the top-10 in program history in six offensive categories. Tietjen is currently fifth all-time with 40 career stolen bases, seventh with 132 runs scored, ninth in program history with 113 runs batted in and 39 career doubles, 10th with 20 home runs and tied for 10th with six triples.
NEXT MARKS TO REACH: Joe Tietjen needs five more stolen bases to move into a tie for fourth place all-time. He is just one run scored away from sixth all-time and nine away from fifth. He is also four doubles away from a two-way tie for seventh and is just one home run away from ninth. He is seven RBIs away from eighth in the category.
TIETJEN IN THE BIG SOUTH: Senior center fielder Joe Tietjen is currently in the top-10 of the Big South Conference in five offensive categories. He is second in the league with three triples on the year and 17 stolen bases. He is also tied for fourth with 31 runs scored and is ninth with 70 total bases and six home runs.
HARD TO STRIKE OUT: Sophomore Danny Wilson has proven difficult to strike out at times this season. He boasts a team-best 30 walks on the year, a mark that has him second in the conference. His .432 on-base percentage is good enough for seventh in the league.
PAGANO WITH MULTIPLE HITS: Between Friday and Saturday's games last weekend at High Point, Carmine Pagano went 4-for-8 at the plate. He has now recorded multiple hits in 10 games this season.
ORR HOLDING OPPONENTS SCORELESS: Prior to the eighth inning in last weekend's series finale at High Point (4/15), Spencer Orr went just over 14 straight innings without giving up a run, earned or unearned. In his last two outings, Orr pitched 14.2 innings, striking out 13 batters while giving up just one run and four walks. In the last three games, Orr has given up three runs in 19.0 innings and has struck out 17 batters. He is currently 5th in the league with a 2.67 ERA, 7th with 54.0 innings pitched, tied for 9th with 46 batters struck out and tied for eighth with 15 batters struck out looking.
LAST TIME OUT (at Tennessee, 4/19/17): The UNC Asheville baseball team had the tying run at the plate with two runners on and two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday night, but the Tennessee Volunteers were able to get out of the jam to hold on for the 5-2 win at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Outside of a three-run third inning for the Volunteers and despite a couple of miscues, the Bulldogs were able to match the SEC squad tit for tat for much of the game. UNC Asheville received a couple of timely hits and the Bulldogs were a couple of big plays away from recording a different result. After jumping out to the 3-0 lead, the Vols extended the lead out to 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth with a single unearned run. Tennessee's first four runs were all unearned. The Bulldogs broke up the shutout in the top of the eighth when Joe Tietjen scored after the Tennessee pitcher overthrew his first basemen with two outs. Tietjen, who walked earlier in the inning, rounded third and raced home as the ball sailed high and bounced into foul territory. Carmine Pagano was then able to make it to third, but a flyout to center field ended the Bulldog threat. Tennessee appeared to have canceled out the small gain with a run in the bottom of the inning, but the Bulldogs continued to fight and claw to the end. In the top of the ninth, Joe Gruszka scored after drawing a walk as a pinch hitter and the Bulldogs put two runners on with two outs, bringing the tying run to the plate. However, the Tennessee closer struck out the final batter to secure the 5-2 win and end the threat. Danny Wilson, Tyler Serricchio and Tanner Bush all recorded a hit in the game with Serricchio's being a double. On the mound, freshman Blake Brown earned the start and gave the Bulldogs two solid innings that saw him strike out two batters. Nick Boyles (0-5) became the pitcher of record as he pitched two-thirds of the third inning. Austin Fahr, Kole Harris, Jesse Juday, Justin Woods and Eric Whitecavage all saw action on the bump. Eric Freeman (1-0) earned his first win of the season for Tennessee, pitching 2.2 frames in which he struck out a game-high four batters. The Vols utilized five other pitchers in the game.
UP NEXT: Following the weekend series at Campbell, the Bulldogs will play one more game in the month of April before having six days off. UNC Asheville will travel to Furman to play the Paladins on Tuesday, April 25. First pitch will be at 6 p.m.
EFFECTIVE PINCH HITTER: Joe Zayatz saw just three pitches in the series finale against Charleston Southern on Sunday, April 9, but it was the third one that proved to be the payoff pitch for him as he ripped a two-out single through the right side that gave Chris Troost just enough time to round third and race home, giving the UNC Asheville Baseball team a 2-1 victory in walk-off fashion over Charleston Southern at Greenwood Field.
FIRST CAREER HOME RUNS: Joe Gruszka came in to pinch hit for UNC Asheville in the top of the ninth against Richmond on Sunday, April 2, and made the most of his at-bat, ripping a two-run home run to left field. The homer was the first of his collegiate career. He joined Jake Madole, Brandon Lankford, Kole Harris and Tyler Serricchio as players who have hit their first collegiate homer so far this season.
WOODS SAVING THE DAY: Justin Woods recorded his fourth save of the season on Friday, March 24, against Presbyterian as he pitched the final inning in the Bulldogs' 4-2 victory over the Blue Hose. He is tied for fourth in the Big South Conference with his four saves on the year.
TAKE A LITTLE OFF THE TOP: Win the game, lose the hair. That was the recipe for success on Wednesday, March 29, as the UNC Asheville baseball team worked to raise donations for a special cause in an attempt to capture a bigger victory than the 5-3 win over Western Carolina at McCormick Field. The Bulldogs held their annual Vs. Cancer Game at the historic baseball venue located in downtown Asheville. It was the fifth year of the event and it was possibly the biggest one yet. Over the previous four years, UNC Asheville baseball has raised close to $24,000. As of the most recent count, the Bulldogs had collected over $9,200 in 2017 alone, with hopes to add to that total throughout the rest of the season. The over $9,200 raised has UNC Asheville currently fifth in the nation amongst baseball programs that are raising money for the worthy cause of battling childhood cancer. The money raised will be donated to the Vs. Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Raleigh. The foundation, which operates on a 50/50 model of giving, raises funds for childhood cancer research as well as helps children live more comfortably during treatments at local children's hospitals. Vs. Cancer gives half of the proceeds raised to pediatric brain tumor research and the other half goes back to a local hospital in the community where the money was raised. For UNC Asheville, that is Mission Children's Hospital.
BACK-TO-BACK SERIES WINS: When UNC Asheville won the first game of a doubleheader against UMBC on Saturday, March 11, it marked the first time since the 2012 season that the Bulldogs had won back-to-back weekend series. The 7-6 walk-off win over UMBC gave UNC Asheville a 2-1 series win over the Retrievers. The weekend before, the Bulldogs won the series 2-1 over Iona. The last time the Asheville baseball program strung together multiple weekend series was the 2012 campaign. The 2012 Bulldogs won three straight weekend series, including 2-1 over Liberty, a clean sweep (3-0) on the road at High Point and 2-1 at College of Charleston.
NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE: The Bulldogs turned a rare 1-3-5-6 triple play in the bottom of the first inning at Appalachian State on Wednesday, March 8. It is just the second triple play to be turned in NCAA Division I this season as George Washington turned one earlier this year. It is also the second triple play in as many years in the Big South Conference as Gardner-Webb turned the only triple play in Division I last season.
YOUNG SQUAD: The Bulldogs' starting lineup has featured 12 players who are either freshmen or sophomores to start the year. Freshmen Chris Troost, Brandon Lankford, Kole Harris, Joe Gruszka, Jake Madole, Tyler Serricchio and Greg Gasparro have all contributed in the starting lineup very early. Sophomores Carmine Pagano, Andrew Friedholm, Danny Wilson, Austin Fahr and Ryan Tapp have all picked up where they left off as freshmen and are beginning to see their roles increase as well.
MOVING RUNNERS ACROSS THE PLATE: Senior center fielder Joe Tietjen moved seven runners across the plate on Friday, Feb. 24, against Dayton, coming up just two shy of the individual single-game school record. Tietjen had a double and a home run to help his efforts. He also had two other hits that came close to clearing the fence. One was just foul and the other came up just short of the center field fence.
LANKFORD NAMED BIG SOUTH FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK (2/27): After a stellar week in Spartanburg, UNC Asheville baseball true freshman Brandon Lankford was named the Big South Conference's Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week, as announced by the conference office Monday, Feb. 27. Lankford's honor marks the second week in a row that a UNC Asheville freshman has earned the honor and gives UNC Asheville a sweep of the award in the first two weeks of its existence. Last week, fellow true freshman Chris Troost earned the first-ever Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week honors for baseball in the Big South. Lankford led the Bulldogs to a 2-2 record this past week in Spartanburg. Over the course of the Bulldogs' four games, he batted a team-best .389 with an outstanding .833 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. He led the team with four extra base knocks, including two home runs and two doubles. The third baseman from Mocksville, N.C., had multiple hits in all but one game last week and also had at least one RBI in each game. He scored seven runs himself, including the game-winner Sunday to lift Asheville over Wofford 7-6, and batted in six others. In the field, he recorded a putout and nine assists for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. In Wednesday's game at USC Upstate, Lankford started the scoring drive for the Bulldogs with a double to score Carmine Pagano, putting Asheville up 1-0. On Friday against Dayton, his single through the left side to score fellow freshman Kole Harris in the top of the second inning put the Bulldogs ahead of the Flyers for good. He then scored the first of his two runs of that game when Joe Tietjen doubled to left field. His second run of the game came when Tietjen ripped a home run to center field. In the game against the Flyers, Lankford went 2-for-4 at the plate and drew two walks. In the weekend finale at Wofford, Lankford went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. In the fourth inning, he scored off a Danny Wilson double down the right field line. Then, in the eighth inning, Lankford hit his third home run of the season, second of the week, scoring last week's Big South Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week Troost. He ended his week by scoring the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning when fellow freshman Joe Gruszka was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
TROOST NAMED FIRST-EVER BIG SOUTH FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK (2/20): UNC Asheville baseball true freshman Chris Troost was named the first-ever Big South Conference's Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week as announced by the conference office Monday, Feb. 20. 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.
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.
QUOTABLES
"We have a great opportunity in front of us this weekend at Campbell. We need to bring focus and confidence to each game, inning, at-bat and pitch. We need to clean up our game a bit after last night if we expect a different outcome at Campbell." – Scott Friedholm
Â
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team remains on the road this weekend for a three-game Big South Conference series at Campbell. The series begins Friday, April 21, with a 6 p.m. first pitch and continues on Saturday, April 22, when the Camels and Bulldogs square off again at 3 p.m. The series finale will be on Sunday, April 23, and will feature a 2 p.m. first pitch.
THE MATCHUP
Teams:Â UNC Asheville (15-22, 5-7 Big South) at Campbell (17-20, 5-7 Big South)
Location:Â Buies Creek, N.C. / Jim Perry Stadium
When: Friday, April 21 – 6 PM / Saturday, April 22 – 3 PM / Sunday, April 23 – 2 PM
Live Stats:Â www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
INSIDE THE SERIES: UNC Asheville and Campbell have met 47 times dating back to the 1985 season with the Camels controlling the series 32-15. In the Bulldogs' NCAA Division I era, Campbell is 26-14 against the Bulldogs and as Big South Conference foes, the Camels control the regular-season series 21-8. Campbell enters the weekend having won seven straight over the Bulldogs, but the two have not met since the 2014 season with the last Asheville win coming during the 2012 campaign.
SCOUTING THE CAMELS: Campbell enters the weekend series having broken up a five-game losing skid with a 4-2 road win over N.C. Central earlier this week. The Camels have lost six of their last eight games, including dropping two of three at High Point and getting swept by Radford last weekend. The Camels are 17-20 on the year and 5-7 in Big South play, having taken two of three from both Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb. At home, Campbell is 9-13 on the year. The Camels boast one of the most aggressive and potent offenses in the league as they lead the Big South Conference in stolen bases (68), runs batted in (206) and doubles (72). They are also second in the league in slugging percentage (.420), runs scored (224), on-base percentage (.374) and home runs (37). Campbell is led by Matthew Barefoot's .364 batting average and 37 runs batted in. He is second in the league for batting average and is first in hits (55), RBIs (37) and doubles (15). On the base paths, Drew Butler and Adam Wyse lead the way with 27 and 11 stolen bases. Butler leads the league in bases swiped while Wyse is tied for ninth. On the mound, Campbell has turned to Alex Yarem on Saturdays and Ryan Kirk on Sundays. Allan Winans was the Friday starter for the first three Big South Conference weekend series, but was replaced by Andrew Witczak last weekend at home against Radford. Kirk, Yarem and Winans are all right-handers while Witzcak is a southpaw. Witzcak and Winans are the elder statesmen of the group as both are redshirt juniors. Yarem is a redshirt sophomore and Kirk is a true freshman. Yarem leads the quartet with a 3.40 ERA and 31 strikeouts while Kirk boasts the most wins of the group at three.
WEEKEND ROTATION: The Bulldogs' weekend rotation will see Greg Gasparro toe the rubber first on Friday with Spencer Orr getting the start on Saturday. Sunday's start will belong to Joe Zayatz. Gasparro, a freshman left-hander, will be making his eighth start of the year and 13th appearance. He is 2-3 on the year with a 4.89 ERA in 42.1 innings of work. He has struck out 33 batters. Orr, the Bulldogs' typical game-three starter, will make his 10th start of the year and takes a 2.67 ERA and 2-3 record into the weekend. In 54.0 innings of work, Orr has struck out a team-best 46 batters. Zayatz will make his fourth start of the season on Sunday. He boasts a 0.60 ERA and 2-0 record in 15.0 innings of work. He has struck out 13 batters and has held his opposition to a .200 batting average.
GUNNING RUNNERS DOWN: In last weekend's road series at High Point, UNC Asheville caught five runners attempting to steal bases, including three on Friday. The Bulldogs are currently in the midst of a five-game stretch of having caught at least one runner attempting to steal. Freshman Joe Gruszka has gunned down six runners during the stretch. On the year, the Bulldogs have caught 26 runners attempting to steal, a mark that has them second in the league in the category. The 26 runners caught stealing marks a +10 improvement from last season. UNC Asheville caught 16 runners attempting to steal bases last season, 28 in 2015, 21 in 2014, 23 in 2013 and 20 in 2012.
PICKING 'EM OFF: UNC Asheville's pitching corps is tied for second in the Big South Conference with nine pickoffs on the year, including one Tuesday night at home against USC Upstate when Justin Woods picked Brett Hawkins off at second in the top of the seventh.
TURNING DOUBLE PLAYS: The Bulldogs have turned 35 double plays on the year, two more than all of last year. This season, the Bulldogs are amongst the best in the nation in the category.
SHOWING IMPROVEMENT: At this point last season, the 2016 Bulldogs were 12-25, 4-8 in conference play and had three series wins to their credit, but had also been swept three times. This season, UNC Asheville has shown solid improvements in most facets of the game as they are 15-22 with series wins over Iona, UMBC and Presbyterian as well as taking two of three during the tournament in Spartanburg in the second weekend of the year. This year's Bulldogs have taken at least one game in each of their weekend series, and had opportunities to claim four of their dropped series.
CANNONS FOR ARMS IN THE OUTFIELD: UNC Asheville boasts 13 outfield assists on the year. The mark has the Bulldogs third in the country in the category. Joe Tietjen leads the outfielders with four assists, a mark that has him tied for fifth in the nation in the category. Danny Wilson and Justin Woods both have three assists in the outfield. Kyle Carruthers has two and Tanner Bush has one.
TIETJEN LEAVING HIS MARK: Senior center fielder Joe Tietjen is in the top-10 in program history in six offensive categories. Tietjen is currently fifth all-time with 40 career stolen bases, seventh with 132 runs scored, ninth in program history with 113 runs batted in and 39 career doubles, 10th with 20 home runs and tied for 10th with six triples.
NEXT MARKS TO REACH: Joe Tietjen needs five more stolen bases to move into a tie for fourth place all-time. He is just one run scored away from sixth all-time and nine away from fifth. He is also four doubles away from a two-way tie for seventh and is just one home run away from ninth. He is seven RBIs away from eighth in the category.
TIETJEN IN THE BIG SOUTH: Senior center fielder Joe Tietjen is currently in the top-10 of the Big South Conference in five offensive categories. He is second in the league with three triples on the year and 17 stolen bases. He is also tied for fourth with 31 runs scored and is ninth with 70 total bases and six home runs.
HARD TO STRIKE OUT: Sophomore Danny Wilson has proven difficult to strike out at times this season. He boasts a team-best 30 walks on the year, a mark that has him second in the conference. His .432 on-base percentage is good enough for seventh in the league.
PAGANO WITH MULTIPLE HITS: Between Friday and Saturday's games last weekend at High Point, Carmine Pagano went 4-for-8 at the plate. He has now recorded multiple hits in 10 games this season.
ORR HOLDING OPPONENTS SCORELESS: Prior to the eighth inning in last weekend's series finale at High Point (4/15), Spencer Orr went just over 14 straight innings without giving up a run, earned or unearned. In his last two outings, Orr pitched 14.2 innings, striking out 13 batters while giving up just one run and four walks. In the last three games, Orr has given up three runs in 19.0 innings and has struck out 17 batters. He is currently 5th in the league with a 2.67 ERA, 7th with 54.0 innings pitched, tied for 9th with 46 batters struck out and tied for eighth with 15 batters struck out looking.
LAST TIME OUT (at Tennessee, 4/19/17): The UNC Asheville baseball team had the tying run at the plate with two runners on and two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday night, but the Tennessee Volunteers were able to get out of the jam to hold on for the 5-2 win at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Outside of a three-run third inning for the Volunteers and despite a couple of miscues, the Bulldogs were able to match the SEC squad tit for tat for much of the game. UNC Asheville received a couple of timely hits and the Bulldogs were a couple of big plays away from recording a different result. After jumping out to the 3-0 lead, the Vols extended the lead out to 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth with a single unearned run. Tennessee's first four runs were all unearned. The Bulldogs broke up the shutout in the top of the eighth when Joe Tietjen scored after the Tennessee pitcher overthrew his first basemen with two outs. Tietjen, who walked earlier in the inning, rounded third and raced home as the ball sailed high and bounced into foul territory. Carmine Pagano was then able to make it to third, but a flyout to center field ended the Bulldog threat. Tennessee appeared to have canceled out the small gain with a run in the bottom of the inning, but the Bulldogs continued to fight and claw to the end. In the top of the ninth, Joe Gruszka scored after drawing a walk as a pinch hitter and the Bulldogs put two runners on with two outs, bringing the tying run to the plate. However, the Tennessee closer struck out the final batter to secure the 5-2 win and end the threat. Danny Wilson, Tyler Serricchio and Tanner Bush all recorded a hit in the game with Serricchio's being a double. On the mound, freshman Blake Brown earned the start and gave the Bulldogs two solid innings that saw him strike out two batters. Nick Boyles (0-5) became the pitcher of record as he pitched two-thirds of the third inning. Austin Fahr, Kole Harris, Jesse Juday, Justin Woods and Eric Whitecavage all saw action on the bump. Eric Freeman (1-0) earned his first win of the season for Tennessee, pitching 2.2 frames in which he struck out a game-high four batters. The Vols utilized five other pitchers in the game.
UP NEXT: Following the weekend series at Campbell, the Bulldogs will play one more game in the month of April before having six days off. UNC Asheville will travel to Furman to play the Paladins on Tuesday, April 25. First pitch will be at 6 p.m.
EFFECTIVE PINCH HITTER: Joe Zayatz saw just three pitches in the series finale against Charleston Southern on Sunday, April 9, but it was the third one that proved to be the payoff pitch for him as he ripped a two-out single through the right side that gave Chris Troost just enough time to round third and race home, giving the UNC Asheville Baseball team a 2-1 victory in walk-off fashion over Charleston Southern at Greenwood Field.
FIRST CAREER HOME RUNS: Joe Gruszka came in to pinch hit for UNC Asheville in the top of the ninth against Richmond on Sunday, April 2, and made the most of his at-bat, ripping a two-run home run to left field. The homer was the first of his collegiate career. He joined Jake Madole, Brandon Lankford, Kole Harris and Tyler Serricchio as players who have hit their first collegiate homer so far this season.
WOODS SAVING THE DAY: Justin Woods recorded his fourth save of the season on Friday, March 24, against Presbyterian as he pitched the final inning in the Bulldogs' 4-2 victory over the Blue Hose. He is tied for fourth in the Big South Conference with his four saves on the year.
TAKE A LITTLE OFF THE TOP: Win the game, lose the hair. That was the recipe for success on Wednesday, March 29, as the UNC Asheville baseball team worked to raise donations for a special cause in an attempt to capture a bigger victory than the 5-3 win over Western Carolina at McCormick Field. The Bulldogs held their annual Vs. Cancer Game at the historic baseball venue located in downtown Asheville. It was the fifth year of the event and it was possibly the biggest one yet. Over the previous four years, UNC Asheville baseball has raised close to $24,000. As of the most recent count, the Bulldogs had collected over $9,200 in 2017 alone, with hopes to add to that total throughout the rest of the season. The over $9,200 raised has UNC Asheville currently fifth in the nation amongst baseball programs that are raising money for the worthy cause of battling childhood cancer. The money raised will be donated to the Vs. Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Raleigh. The foundation, which operates on a 50/50 model of giving, raises funds for childhood cancer research as well as helps children live more comfortably during treatments at local children's hospitals. Vs. Cancer gives half of the proceeds raised to pediatric brain tumor research and the other half goes back to a local hospital in the community where the money was raised. For UNC Asheville, that is Mission Children's Hospital.
BACK-TO-BACK SERIES WINS: When UNC Asheville won the first game of a doubleheader against UMBC on Saturday, March 11, it marked the first time since the 2012 season that the Bulldogs had won back-to-back weekend series. The 7-6 walk-off win over UMBC gave UNC Asheville a 2-1 series win over the Retrievers. The weekend before, the Bulldogs won the series 2-1 over Iona. The last time the Asheville baseball program strung together multiple weekend series was the 2012 campaign. The 2012 Bulldogs won three straight weekend series, including 2-1 over Liberty, a clean sweep (3-0) on the road at High Point and 2-1 at College of Charleston.
NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE: The Bulldogs turned a rare 1-3-5-6 triple play in the bottom of the first inning at Appalachian State on Wednesday, March 8. It is just the second triple play to be turned in NCAA Division I this season as George Washington turned one earlier this year. It is also the second triple play in as many years in the Big South Conference as Gardner-Webb turned the only triple play in Division I last season.
YOUNG SQUAD: The Bulldogs' starting lineup has featured 12 players who are either freshmen or sophomores to start the year. Freshmen Chris Troost, Brandon Lankford, Kole Harris, Joe Gruszka, Jake Madole, Tyler Serricchio and Greg Gasparro have all contributed in the starting lineup very early. Sophomores Carmine Pagano, Andrew Friedholm, Danny Wilson, Austin Fahr and Ryan Tapp have all picked up where they left off as freshmen and are beginning to see their roles increase as well.
MOVING RUNNERS ACROSS THE PLATE: Senior center fielder Joe Tietjen moved seven runners across the plate on Friday, Feb. 24, against Dayton, coming up just two shy of the individual single-game school record. Tietjen had a double and a home run to help his efforts. He also had two other hits that came close to clearing the fence. One was just foul and the other came up just short of the center field fence.
LANKFORD NAMED BIG SOUTH FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK (2/27): After a stellar week in Spartanburg, UNC Asheville baseball true freshman Brandon Lankford was named the Big South Conference's Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week, as announced by the conference office Monday, Feb. 27. Lankford's honor marks the second week in a row that a UNC Asheville freshman has earned the honor and gives UNC Asheville a sweep of the award in the first two weeks of its existence. Last week, fellow true freshman Chris Troost earned the first-ever Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week honors for baseball in the Big South. Lankford led the Bulldogs to a 2-2 record this past week in Spartanburg. Over the course of the Bulldogs' four games, he batted a team-best .389 with an outstanding .833 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. He led the team with four extra base knocks, including two home runs and two doubles. The third baseman from Mocksville, N.C., had multiple hits in all but one game last week and also had at least one RBI in each game. He scored seven runs himself, including the game-winner Sunday to lift Asheville over Wofford 7-6, and batted in six others. In the field, he recorded a putout and nine assists for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. In Wednesday's game at USC Upstate, Lankford started the scoring drive for the Bulldogs with a double to score Carmine Pagano, putting Asheville up 1-0. On Friday against Dayton, his single through the left side to score fellow freshman Kole Harris in the top of the second inning put the Bulldogs ahead of the Flyers for good. He then scored the first of his two runs of that game when Joe Tietjen doubled to left field. His second run of the game came when Tietjen ripped a home run to center field. In the game against the Flyers, Lankford went 2-for-4 at the plate and drew two walks. In the weekend finale at Wofford, Lankford went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. In the fourth inning, he scored off a Danny Wilson double down the right field line. Then, in the eighth inning, Lankford hit his third home run of the season, second of the week, scoring last week's Big South Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week Troost. He ended his week by scoring the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning when fellow freshman Joe Gruszka was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
TROOST NAMED FIRST-EVER BIG SOUTH FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK (2/20): UNC Asheville baseball true freshman Chris Troost was named the first-ever Big South Conference's Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week as announced by the conference office Monday, Feb. 20. 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.
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.
QUOTABLES
"We have a great opportunity in front of us this weekend at Campbell. We need to bring focus and confidence to each game, inning, at-bat and pitch. We need to clean up our game a bit after last night if we expect a different outcome at Campbell." – Scott Friedholm
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/ BaseballHighlights || Baseball || UNC Asheville vs Presbyterian (Game 3)
Tuesday, May 28
Highlights || Baseball || UNC Asheville at Presbyterian (Game 2)
Tuesday, May 28
Highlights || Baseball || UNC Asheville at Presbyterian (Game 1)
Tuesday, May 28
Highlights || Baseball || UNC Asheville vs Gardner-Webb (Game 3)
Monday, May 13