University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
NC State
Baseball Preparing for Pair of Midweek Games, Including Home Tilt Against N.C. Central
04.03.2017 | Baseball
Asheville-Midweek Notes (PDF)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team is slated to play two more midweek games this week, including one at home at Greenwood Field. The Bulldogs will start the week in Raleigh with a 6 p.m. game on Tuesday, April 4, against N.C. State. Asheville will then return home to host N.C. Central on Wednesday, April 5. The game against the Eagles will begin at 4 p.m.
THE MATCHUPS
Teams:Â UNC Asheville (12-15) at N.C. State (15-14)
Location:Â Raleigh, N.C. / Doak Field at Dail Park
When:Â Tuesday, April 4 / 6 p.m.
Live Video:Â ACC Network Extra
Live Stats:Â www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
Teams:Â UNC Asheville (12-15) vs. N.C. Central (15-14)
Location:Â Asheville, N.C. / Greenwood Field
When:Â Wednesday, April 5 / 4 p.m.
Live Video:Â Big South Network
Live Stats:Â www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
BULLDOG BASEBALL ON THE BIG SOUTH NETWORK: UNC Asheville will aim to stream all home baseball games on the Big South Network as weather allows.
BULLDOGS ON THE ESPN FAMILY OF NETWORKS: Tuesday evening's game at N.C. State will mark the first time this season that the Bulldogs will be featured on the ESPN family of networks. UNC Asheville and N.C. State's game will air on ACC Network Extra. The Bulldogs will also play on ESPN3 on Friday, April 14, when they take on High Point on the road.
INSIDE THE SERIES: Against the Wolfpack of N.C. State, UNC Asheville is 1-4 all-time with the lone victory coming back in 1991 in the first meeting between the two. That game was the first of a doubleheader. The Bulldogs are 7-2 all-time against N.C. Central, including 4-2 at home against the Eagles. UNC Asheville claimed the first seven meetings between the two programs after N.C. Central reinstated the baseball program prior to the 2007 season in conjunction with the school moving up from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I.
SCOUTING THE WOLFPACK: The Wolfpack of N.C. State enters Tuesday's game with a 15-14 record, including 5-3 in midweek games. The Pack has claimed series victories over Hawai'i, Austin Peay and Miami. They also took the first game of a three-game series from No. 1 Louisville and forced a 10-inning game in the second tilt of the series. They dropped two of three games at Notre Dame this past weekend in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. They have dropped three of their last five games after starting the season 4-2 through the first two weekends. N.C. State is led at the plate by Brad Debo's .356 batting average and Josh McClain's .339. McClain has appeared in all 29 games, starting 28, and has a team-high 39 hits, including 14 doubles, and he also leads the team with nine stolen bases. Joe Dunand leads the team with 10 home runs and a .594 slugging percentage and is tied with Debo and Will Wilson for tops on the squad with 23 RBIs. Wilson and Evan Mendoza are the only two members of the Wolfpack to have started all 29 games. On the mound, N.C. State has turned to four different starting pitchers in midweek games led by Christian Demby's four starts. He has pitched a total of 14.1 innings in his four midweek starts combined while giving up 16 hits and 10 earned runs. The other three pitchers who have earned midweek starts are Mathieu Gauthier with two starts, Michael Bienlien with one and Cory Wilder with one. Demby had been the Wolfpack's go-to Tuesday starter for three consecutive weeks, but Bienlien started last Tuesday's game at Charlotte.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES: The Eagles of N.C. Central enter this week with a 15-14 overall record, including 4-5 away from Durham and a 2-6 record in midweek games. N.C. Central will host Presbyterian on Tuesday, April 4, before traveling to Asheville for Wednesday's game. The Eagles are 1-3 against the Big South so far this season. Ellington Hopkins was leading N.C. State with a .414 batting average, but hasn't seen action since March 14 against Appalachian State. Carter Williams has played in all 29 games, starting 27, and is hitting at a .402 clip. He boasts a team-best 47 hits, 23 runs scored, 11 doubles and seven stolen bases. Behind him, Mitch McCary is batting .352 and Corey Joyce is batting .349. Joyce and Conrad Kovalcik lead the way with four home runs on the year and Joyce also leads the team with 28 runs batted in. N.C. Central has utilized four different midweek starting pitchers this season. Most recently, Jeff Hagen was the Eagles' Tuesday starter last week against Longwood and Christian Gonnelli was the starter on Wednesday against High Point. Hagen lasted 5.0 innings against the Lancers while Gonnelli went just 1.0 while giving up two earned runs to the Panthers. Landon Fraley was the Tuesday starter for the first two weeks, but has moved to the Saturday starter in the last three weeks. Tyler Penner was the fourth midweek starter, but he has been oved to the Sunday starter. Hagen leads the pitching corps with a 2.88 ERA and a 1-1 record in nine appearances while Gonnelli brings a 10.80 ERA into the week with an 0-3 record in five appearances.
SHOWING IMPROVEMENT: At this point last season, the 2016 Bulldogs were 6-21 and had one series win to their credit. This season, UNC Asheville has shown great improvements as they are 12-15 with series wins over Iona, UMBC and Presbyterian. The 2016 Bulldogs had also been swept three times to this point last season whereas this year's Bulldogs have taken at least one game in each of their weekend series, and had opportunities to claim the three dropped series.
TOP-10 AND MOVING UP (SB, RBIS, HR): With a stolen base this weekend against Richmond, senior Joe Tietjen is currently tied for sixth all-time in program history with 36 career stolen bases. He is just two away from catching fifth while it will take nine to catch fourth. Tietjen is also now ninth all-time with 110 career RBIs. He is 10 away from eighth and 12 away from seventh in the category. When Tietjen ripped his grand slam at McCormick Field on Wednesday, March 29, it was his 19th career round-tripper, moving him into a tie for 10th all-time in program history for career homers.
CLOSING IN: Senior centerfielder Joe Tietjen is quickly closing in on the top-10 in program history in four more offensive categories. He is just one triple away from tying teammate Tanner Bush and three former Bulldogs for 10th in triples and is one double and one run scored away from breaking into the top-10 in those categories as well. He is also four stolen bases this season from climbing into the top-10 for stolen bases in a single season.
GASPARRO SHUTTING DOWN THE OPPOSITION: Freshman southpaw Greg Gasparro has now pitched 15 consecutive scoreless innings. Gasparro pitched seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball Saturday against Richmond and seven scoreless innings on Saturday, March 25, in the series finale with Presbyterian. The weekend before, in the Bulldogs' Big South Conference opening series against Winthrop, Gasparro pitched one scoreless inning against the Eagles in the Sunday series finale. During the current stretch, Gasparro has held batters to a .128 batting average and struck out 10 opponents while posting a 2-0 record. For the year, he is eighth in the league with a 3.21 ERA.
EFFECTIVE PINCH HITTER: Joe Gruszka came in to pinch hit for UNC Asheville in the top of the ninth 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 joins 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 second in the Big South Conference with four saves on the year.
CANNONS FOR ARMS IN THE OUTFIELD: UNC Asheville boasts 11 outfield assists on the year. The mark has the Bulldogs tied for second in the country in the category. Joe Tietjen and Danny Wilson both have three assists in the outfield while Kyle Carruthers and Justin Woods each have two and Tanner bush has one.
TURNING DOUBLE PLAYS: UNC Asheville boasts 27 double plays on the year, an average of 1.0 per game. That mark has the Bulldogs tied for 32nd in the nation in the category. The Bulldogs are also tied for 26th in the nation with 27 total double plays turned. Last weekend at Richmond, the Bulldogs turned three double plays, including a 3-6-3 GDP in the bottom of the second inning of the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.
LAST TIME OUT (at Richmond, 4/2/17): The UNC Asheville baseball team dropped Sunday's series finale at Richmond 5-3 at Pitt Field despite a late offensive push in the top of the ninth. Joe Zayatz gave UNC Asheville a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when he ripped his second home run of the season. The lead held until the bottom of the fourth when Richmond tied things up with a single run. The Spiders took the lead with another run in the fifth and extended that lead out to 5-1 with three runs in the sixth. In the top of the ninth, UNC Asheville poised itself for a comeback as Kyle Carruthers led off the inning with a single just fair of the third base foul line on the second pitch he saw. Joe Gruszka then came in to pinch hit and took full advantage of the opportunity, ripping his first collegiate home run over the right field fence to pull the Bulldogs to within two of the Spiders. However that was as close as Asheville could get as Richmond retired the next three batters to end the game. Both Joe Tietjen and Danny Wilson recorded two hits in the game, going 2-for-3 each. The Bulldogs recorded eight hits on the day combined. Spencer Orr (2-2) started the game strong as he struck out four batters, but was saddled with the loss before giving way to Eric Whitecavage, Jesse Juday and Justin Woods. Daniel Brumbaugh (3-0) secured his third win on the year, pitching six full innings.
UP NEXT: Following the pair of midweek games, UNC Asheville will remain home for a three-game, weekend Big South Conference series against Charleston Southern at Greenwood Field. The Bulldogs and Buccaneers will face off beginning on Friday, April 7, with a 6 p.m. first pitch and will continue the rivalry into Saturday, April 8, with a 3 p.m. first pitch. The two programs will close out the series with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday, April 9.
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 $8,800 in 2017 alone, with hopes to add to that total throughout the rest of the season. The over $8,800 raised has UNC Asheville currently third 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 two tough midweek games coming up. Obviously, traveling to N.C. State is going to be a big challenge for us, but one that I am looking forward to so I can see how our guys react in that type of environment. Wednesday's home game against a very offensive-minded club in N.C. Central will also present its own challenges. This week will be a good challenge for us." – Scott Friedholm
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