University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Tuesday, April 25
Greenville, SC
6 PM
UNC Asheville
at
Furman
Photo by: UNC Asheville
Baseball Travels to Greenville for Midweek Game at Furman
04.24.2017 | Baseball
Asheville-Furman Notes (PDF)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Winners of three of their last five games, the UNC Asheville baseball team will play one final game in the month of April before taking the weekend off to study for exams. The Bulldogs travel to Greenville, S.C., to take on the Paladins of SoCon foe Furman on Tuesday, April 25. First pitch will be at 6 p.m.
THE MATCHUP
Teams:Â UNC Asheville (17-23) at Furman (18-20)
Location:Â Greenville, S.C. / Latham Stadium
When:Â Tuesday, April 25 / 6 p.m.
Live Video:Â Furman YouTube
Live Stats:Â www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
INSIDE THE SERIES: Tuesday will mark the 54th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Paladins with Furman owning that all-time series with a record of 28-24-1. The Bulldogs are 2-2 against Furman in the Scott Friedholm era.
SCOUTING THE PALADINS: Furman enters Tuesday's game having won seven games in a row, including four in a row at home, after dropping nine in a row and 12 of their previous 13 from the end of March to the middle of April. The Paladins began the season winning six of their first eight games before going 5-11 in the month of March. They are 12-9 at home, including a three-game sweep over East Tennessee State this past weekend. Furman is led by Brandon Elmy's .359 batting average, 55 hits and 18 extra-base knocks, including a team-best six home runs. Carter Grote is second on the team with a .344 average and 17 hits that have gone for extra bases. Grote leads the team with 33 runs batted in and 40 runs scored. On the base paths, Sky Overton leads the team with nine stolen bases on 13 attempts. On the mound, Furman has turned to three different pitchers in their last four midweek contests. Nik Verbeke, Hunter Baker and Trent Alley have made the most recent starts on the bump with Baker making two starts against South Carolina and USC Upstate. Both Baker and Verbeke have earned one decision in the span, both losses. On the year, Verbeke leads the trio with a 3.12 ERA in five appearances while Alley brings a 5.00 ERA in four appearances into the week. Baker holds a 7.33 ERA in six appearances and has made the most starts of the three with five. Both Verbeke and Baker have nine strikeouts on the year while Alley has two.
BREAKING A 27-YEAR MARK: Sunday's 11-9 win over Campbell marked the first time since the 1990 season that a UNC Asheville baseball team had claimed a Big South Conference series in Buies Creek, N.C. That year, the Bulldogs swept the Camels en route to finishing 25-25 overall and 8-9 in conference play, finishing third in the league standings.
FRIDAY'S WIN OVER CAMPBELL: Due to the way the conference schedules baseball series, the Bulldogs and Camels had not played each other since the 2014 season. Friday's 10-5 win over the Camels marked the first win in the overall series for UNC Asheville since the second game of a three-game series with Campbell in 2012.
CATCHING GREEDY RUNNERS: Friday night against Campbell marked the sixth-straight game that the Bulldogs had caught at least one runner attempting to steal a base. Joe Gruszka, who gunned down six runners between last weekend at High Point and Tuesday night against USC Upstate, caught a Camel runner attempting to steal in the bottom of the first inning Friday night. UNC Asheville has now caught 27 runners attempting to steal this season, a +9 improvement from last season.
TURNING DOUBLE PLAYS: The Bulldogs have turned 36 double plays on the year, three more than all of last year. The 36 double plays is third-most in the Big South Conference behind only Liberty and Campbell, both of which have turned 38 double plays this season. Last season, UNC Asheville turned 33 double plays.
MARKED IMPROVEMENT: At this point last season, the 2016 Bulldogs were 13-27 and had three series wins to their credit, including two in conference. The 2016 Bullogs had also been swept three times and had endured both a 10-game and five-game losing skid. This season, UNC Asheville has shown solid improvements in most facets of the game as they are 17-23, already a +4 improvement, with series wins over Iona, UMBC, Presbyterian and now Campbell 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.
CANNONS FOR ARMS IN THE OUTFIELD: UNC Asheville boasts 14 outfield assists on the year. The mark has the Bulldogs in the top-two in the country in the category. Joe Tietjen leads the outfielders with five assists, a mark that has him tied for fourth 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 currently 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 117 runs batted in and 39 career doubles, 10th with 20 home runs and tied for 10th with six triples. Tietjen is also currently tied for eighth all-time with 17 stolen bases this season.
NEXT MARKS TO REACH: Joe Tietjen needs five more stolen bases to move into a tie for fourth all-time in the category. He is just one run scored away from sixth and nine away from fifth all-time in program history. He is four doubles away a two-way tie for seventh and his next triple will move him into a tie for sixth all-time. He is just one home run away from ninth and is three RBIs away from eighth all-time and six away from seventh. He needs just one more stolen base to move into a tie for sixth all-time for single season bases stolen and three more to move up to fourth.
WALKING INTO THE RECORD BOOK: Sophomore Danny Wilson drew four walks in his final four at-bats Sunday afternoon at Campbell, giving him 36 for the year. The 36 walks moves Wilson into the top-10 for walks in a single season. He needs just one more to move into ninth, two more to move into eighth and three more to move into seventh.
BUSH'S EXTRA-BASE KNOCKS AGAINST THE CAMELS: Tanner Bush hit his third double of the series Sunday afternoon.
WALK THE LINE: Danny Wilson and Chris Troost have proved to be two of the most difficult batters to strike out this season as the two currently sit second and third respectively in the Big South Conference for walks drawn. Wilson, who boasts 36 total walks and an average of 0.90 per contest, is second in the league and also tied for ninth in all of NCAA Division I baseball for walks drawn. He is also 22nd in the nation in walks per game. Troost, who has drawn 31 total walks and led the nation at one point earlier this season in walks, is third in the league in walks, is tied for 31st in the nation for overall walks and is tied for 14th in NCAA Division I with 0.94 walks per game.
WOODS SAVING THE DAY: Justin Woods has done a little bit of everything this season for the Bulldogs. The senior has especially pitched efficiently as he has become a reliable closer for the Bulldogs. Woods boasts five saves on the year, a mark that is tied for fifth in the conference.
RELIABLE WHITECAVAGE: Eric Whitecavage has established himself as one of the more reliable relievers in the UNC Asheville bullpen. The sophomore right-hander leads the league with 22 appearances. He boasts a perfect 3-0 record, a 4.68 ERA and owns one save in 32.2 innings of work.
LAST TIME OUT (at Campbell, 4/23/17): Following Saturday's heart-breaking loss to Campbell, the UNC Asheville baseball coaching staff issued a challenge to the Bulldogs: continue to play as well as they had for most of the last two games and with heart, no matter the out-come. The Bulldogs answered the call Sunday afternoon, battling through less-than-ideal weather conditions as well as some late adversity to take the Big South Conference series 2-1 over the Camels with an 11-9 victory at Jim Perry Stadium. The come-from-behind victory marked the fourth win for the Bulldogs in the last six games and secured the fifth weekend series victory on the season for UNC Asheville, including the weekend in Spartanburg in the second weekend of the season. It was also the first Big South Conference series win at Campbell for UNC Asheville since the 1990 season. Carmine Pagano, Joe Tietjen and Tanner Bush all had multi-hit days, recording two hits in the contest. Both Pagano and Tietjen had two RBIs with Pagano scoring a run. Bush scored twice and batted another in and ended his weekend with three extra-base knocks. Joe Zayatz started the game on the mound for UNC Asheville but gave way to Brandon Harris, Kole Harris and Eric Whitecavage. Whitecavage (3-0) earned his third win on the year as he pitched the final 1.2 innings. B. Harris had three strikeouts in his 5.2 innings of work. For Campbell, Wyatt Tyson (1-3) was the pitcher of record as the Camels trotted five different pitchers out to the mound. The Camels walked eight batters, bringing the weekend total to 23 Bulldogs walked.
UP NEXT: UNC Asheville will take six days off from outside competition to study for exams. The Bulldogs will be back in action on Tuesday, May 2, when Appalachian State travels to Asheville for the second half of a home-and-home series. The game against the Mountaineers will feature a 6 p.m. first pitch.
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.
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 another SoCon challenge ahead of us against a very hot team. Furman has won seven in a row and Coach Harker is doing a great job in his first season. We need to pitch well and make every routine play if we want to be successful. It should be a great atmosphere and we are looking forward to the challenge." – Scott Friedholm
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Winners of three of their last five games, the UNC Asheville baseball team will play one final game in the month of April before taking the weekend off to study for exams. The Bulldogs travel to Greenville, S.C., to take on the Paladins of SoCon foe Furman on Tuesday, April 25. First pitch will be at 6 p.m.
THE MATCHUP
Teams:Â UNC Asheville (17-23) at Furman (18-20)
Location:Â Greenville, S.C. / Latham Stadium
When:Â Tuesday, April 25 / 6 p.m.
Live Video:Â Furman YouTube
Live Stats:Â www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
INSIDE THE SERIES: Tuesday will mark the 54th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Paladins with Furman owning that all-time series with a record of 28-24-1. The Bulldogs are 2-2 against Furman in the Scott Friedholm era.
SCOUTING THE PALADINS: Furman enters Tuesday's game having won seven games in a row, including four in a row at home, after dropping nine in a row and 12 of their previous 13 from the end of March to the middle of April. The Paladins began the season winning six of their first eight games before going 5-11 in the month of March. They are 12-9 at home, including a three-game sweep over East Tennessee State this past weekend. Furman is led by Brandon Elmy's .359 batting average, 55 hits and 18 extra-base knocks, including a team-best six home runs. Carter Grote is second on the team with a .344 average and 17 hits that have gone for extra bases. Grote leads the team with 33 runs batted in and 40 runs scored. On the base paths, Sky Overton leads the team with nine stolen bases on 13 attempts. On the mound, Furman has turned to three different pitchers in their last four midweek contests. Nik Verbeke, Hunter Baker and Trent Alley have made the most recent starts on the bump with Baker making two starts against South Carolina and USC Upstate. Both Baker and Verbeke have earned one decision in the span, both losses. On the year, Verbeke leads the trio with a 3.12 ERA in five appearances while Alley brings a 5.00 ERA in four appearances into the week. Baker holds a 7.33 ERA in six appearances and has made the most starts of the three with five. Both Verbeke and Baker have nine strikeouts on the year while Alley has two.
BREAKING A 27-YEAR MARK: Sunday's 11-9 win over Campbell marked the first time since the 1990 season that a UNC Asheville baseball team had claimed a Big South Conference series in Buies Creek, N.C. That year, the Bulldogs swept the Camels en route to finishing 25-25 overall and 8-9 in conference play, finishing third in the league standings.
FRIDAY'S WIN OVER CAMPBELL: Due to the way the conference schedules baseball series, the Bulldogs and Camels had not played each other since the 2014 season. Friday's 10-5 win over the Camels marked the first win in the overall series for UNC Asheville since the second game of a three-game series with Campbell in 2012.
CATCHING GREEDY RUNNERS: Friday night against Campbell marked the sixth-straight game that the Bulldogs had caught at least one runner attempting to steal a base. Joe Gruszka, who gunned down six runners between last weekend at High Point and Tuesday night against USC Upstate, caught a Camel runner attempting to steal in the bottom of the first inning Friday night. UNC Asheville has now caught 27 runners attempting to steal this season, a +9 improvement from last season.
TURNING DOUBLE PLAYS: The Bulldogs have turned 36 double plays on the year, three more than all of last year. The 36 double plays is third-most in the Big South Conference behind only Liberty and Campbell, both of which have turned 38 double plays this season. Last season, UNC Asheville turned 33 double plays.
MARKED IMPROVEMENT: At this point last season, the 2016 Bulldogs were 13-27 and had three series wins to their credit, including two in conference. The 2016 Bullogs had also been swept three times and had endured both a 10-game and five-game losing skid. This season, UNC Asheville has shown solid improvements in most facets of the game as they are 17-23, already a +4 improvement, with series wins over Iona, UMBC, Presbyterian and now Campbell 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.
CANNONS FOR ARMS IN THE OUTFIELD: UNC Asheville boasts 14 outfield assists on the year. The mark has the Bulldogs in the top-two in the country in the category. Joe Tietjen leads the outfielders with five assists, a mark that has him tied for fourth 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 currently 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 117 runs batted in and 39 career doubles, 10th with 20 home runs and tied for 10th with six triples. Tietjen is also currently tied for eighth all-time with 17 stolen bases this season.
NEXT MARKS TO REACH: Joe Tietjen needs five more stolen bases to move into a tie for fourth all-time in the category. He is just one run scored away from sixth and nine away from fifth all-time in program history. He is four doubles away a two-way tie for seventh and his next triple will move him into a tie for sixth all-time. He is just one home run away from ninth and is three RBIs away from eighth all-time and six away from seventh. He needs just one more stolen base to move into a tie for sixth all-time for single season bases stolen and three more to move up to fourth.
WALKING INTO THE RECORD BOOK: Sophomore Danny Wilson drew four walks in his final four at-bats Sunday afternoon at Campbell, giving him 36 for the year. The 36 walks moves Wilson into the top-10 for walks in a single season. He needs just one more to move into ninth, two more to move into eighth and three more to move into seventh.
BUSH'S EXTRA-BASE KNOCKS AGAINST THE CAMELS: Tanner Bush hit his third double of the series Sunday afternoon.
WALK THE LINE: Danny Wilson and Chris Troost have proved to be two of the most difficult batters to strike out this season as the two currently sit second and third respectively in the Big South Conference for walks drawn. Wilson, who boasts 36 total walks and an average of 0.90 per contest, is second in the league and also tied for ninth in all of NCAA Division I baseball for walks drawn. He is also 22nd in the nation in walks per game. Troost, who has drawn 31 total walks and led the nation at one point earlier this season in walks, is third in the league in walks, is tied for 31st in the nation for overall walks and is tied for 14th in NCAA Division I with 0.94 walks per game.
WOODS SAVING THE DAY: Justin Woods has done a little bit of everything this season for the Bulldogs. The senior has especially pitched efficiently as he has become a reliable closer for the Bulldogs. Woods boasts five saves on the year, a mark that is tied for fifth in the conference.
RELIABLE WHITECAVAGE: Eric Whitecavage has established himself as one of the more reliable relievers in the UNC Asheville bullpen. The sophomore right-hander leads the league with 22 appearances. He boasts a perfect 3-0 record, a 4.68 ERA and owns one save in 32.2 innings of work.
LAST TIME OUT (at Campbell, 4/23/17): Following Saturday's heart-breaking loss to Campbell, the UNC Asheville baseball coaching staff issued a challenge to the Bulldogs: continue to play as well as they had for most of the last two games and with heart, no matter the out-come. The Bulldogs answered the call Sunday afternoon, battling through less-than-ideal weather conditions as well as some late adversity to take the Big South Conference series 2-1 over the Camels with an 11-9 victory at Jim Perry Stadium. The come-from-behind victory marked the fourth win for the Bulldogs in the last six games and secured the fifth weekend series victory on the season for UNC Asheville, including the weekend in Spartanburg in the second weekend of the season. It was also the first Big South Conference series win at Campbell for UNC Asheville since the 1990 season. Carmine Pagano, Joe Tietjen and Tanner Bush all had multi-hit days, recording two hits in the contest. Both Pagano and Tietjen had two RBIs with Pagano scoring a run. Bush scored twice and batted another in and ended his weekend with three extra-base knocks. Joe Zayatz started the game on the mound for UNC Asheville but gave way to Brandon Harris, Kole Harris and Eric Whitecavage. Whitecavage (3-0) earned his third win on the year as he pitched the final 1.2 innings. B. Harris had three strikeouts in his 5.2 innings of work. For Campbell, Wyatt Tyson (1-3) was the pitcher of record as the Camels trotted five different pitchers out to the mound. The Camels walked eight batters, bringing the weekend total to 23 Bulldogs walked.
UP NEXT: UNC Asheville will take six days off from outside competition to study for exams. The Bulldogs will be back in action on Tuesday, May 2, when Appalachian State travels to Asheville for the second half of a home-and-home series. The game against the Mountaineers will feature a 6 p.m. first pitch.
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.
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 another SoCon challenge ahead of us against a very hot team. Furman has won seven in a row and Coach Harker is doing a great job in his first season. We need to pitch well and make every routine play if we want to be successful. It should be a great atmosphere and we are looking forward to the challenge." – 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