University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Friday, May 12
Asheville, N.C.
12 PM
UNC Asheville
20-27, 0
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Longwood
17-31, 0
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9
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Longwood
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UNC Asheville
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Photo by: UNC Asheville
UNC Asheville Opens Series With 4-1 Win Over Longwood
05.12.2017 | Baseball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team opened up the final home series of the year with a 4-1 win over Longwood Friday afternoon at Greenwood Field.
The win, which is the 20th of the year for the Bulldogs, came off a balanced offensive attack at the plate and a solid day on the mound for the UNC Asheville pitching corps.
Longwood (17-31, 5-14 Big South) edged out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the lead didn't last long as Carmine Pagano tied things back up in the bottom of the frame. Danny Wilson stole second and the Longwood catcher attempted to throw him out, but the throw was late and just off its mark. As the ball bounced into center field, Pagano took off from third and raced home to knot the score at 1-1.
Two innings later, the senior tandem of Joe Tietjen and Kyle Carruthers hooked up to give UNC Asheville (20-27, 9-10 Big South) the lead for good. Carruthers drew a four-pitch walk with two outs and promptly stole second. Tietjen then swapped places with him, doubling down the left field line and scoring Carruthers.
Things got a tad dicey in the top of the sixth as Longwood loaded the bases with a double, a hit by pitch and a walk, but Nick Boyles came on to relieve Danny Wilson and struck out the next batter looking before getting the third out via ground out to Pagano at short.
In the bottom of the same inning, the Bulldogs tacked on a pair of unearned insurance runs when Tyler Serricchio scored off a sacrifice fly by Pagano and Kole Harris raced home to score off a wild pitch.
Both Tietjen and Serricchio had multi-hit days with Tietjen going 3-for-4 with an RBI, a stolen base and a double while batting in the cleanup spot. Serricchio went 2-for-4 with his one run scored.
Coincidentally, Justin Mitchell, Longwood's cleanup hitter, also went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a double, similar to Tietjen's effort.
On the mound, Wilson (W, 1-1) made his fifth start of the year and pitched 5.1 innings to earn his first win of the season and second of his career. The sophomore gave up just one earned run and struck out three batters before giving way to Nick Boyles for just under one inning. Blake Brown pitched the final three stanzas to earn his first collegiate save. The freshman gave up just one hit and fanned four batters. The Bulldogs' three pitchers combined to give up just two walks and one hit batter.
Cody Wager (L, 4-4) pitched the complete game for Longwood, giving up nine hits and two earned runs while striking out 10.
BULLDOG BITES
TOMORROW'S STARTERS: UNC Ashville will send freshman left-hander Greg Gasparro (3-3) to the mound to start Saturday's game. Longwood will turn to Steven Farkas (1-2). Gasparro will be making his 10th start of the year and 16th appearance. He enters Saturday with a 3-3 record in 54.1 innings of work that has seen him strike out 43 batters. His 43 batters struck out is second to only senior Spencer Orr. Farkas boasts a 3.05 ERA, lowest of the three Longwood starters for the weekend. He has pitched 38.1 innings this season.
TURNING DOUBLE PLAYS: The Bulldogs turned two double plays Friday afternoon, giving them 41 on the year.
TIETJEN's STOLEN BASE: When senior Joe Tietjen stole second in the bottom of the fifth inning Friday afternoon, it marked the 18th time this season the senior center fielder has swiped a base, moving him up into sole possession of eighth all-time for stolen bases in a single season. It was also the 41st stolen base of his career. Tietjen is currently fifth all-time in career stolen bases and needs just four more to reach fourth.
SENIOR DAY: Prior to Saturday's start, UNC Asheville will recognize the five seniors on the team for the contributions to the program. Those seniors include Kyle Carruthers, Derek Smith, Justin Woods, Joe Tietjen and Spencer Orr.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs and Lancers will continue the series tomorrow, Saturday, May 13, with a 6 p.m. first pitch. The two will conclude the series on Sunday, May 13, with a 1 p.m. first pitch. The Bulldogs will also hold a special Mother's Day ceremony on Sunday.
QUOTABLES
"This is a good way to start off a series. I thought we did a great job on the mound with our three pitchers throwing strikes and limiting extra bases. Offensively, we had good at-bats and got quality at-bats throughout the game. However, we need to clean up our defense if we want our pitchers to go later into ball games." – Scott Friedholm
The win, which is the 20th of the year for the Bulldogs, came off a balanced offensive attack at the plate and a solid day on the mound for the UNC Asheville pitching corps.
Longwood (17-31, 5-14 Big South) edged out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the lead didn't last long as Carmine Pagano tied things back up in the bottom of the frame. Danny Wilson stole second and the Longwood catcher attempted to throw him out, but the throw was late and just off its mark. As the ball bounced into center field, Pagano took off from third and raced home to knot the score at 1-1.
Two innings later, the senior tandem of Joe Tietjen and Kyle Carruthers hooked up to give UNC Asheville (20-27, 9-10 Big South) the lead for good. Carruthers drew a four-pitch walk with two outs and promptly stole second. Tietjen then swapped places with him, doubling down the left field line and scoring Carruthers.
Things got a tad dicey in the top of the sixth as Longwood loaded the bases with a double, a hit by pitch and a walk, but Nick Boyles came on to relieve Danny Wilson and struck out the next batter looking before getting the third out via ground out to Pagano at short.
In the bottom of the same inning, the Bulldogs tacked on a pair of unearned insurance runs when Tyler Serricchio scored off a sacrifice fly by Pagano and Kole Harris raced home to score off a wild pitch.
Both Tietjen and Serricchio had multi-hit days with Tietjen going 3-for-4 with an RBI, a stolen base and a double while batting in the cleanup spot. Serricchio went 2-for-4 with his one run scored.
Coincidentally, Justin Mitchell, Longwood's cleanup hitter, also went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a double, similar to Tietjen's effort.
On the mound, Wilson (W, 1-1) made his fifth start of the year and pitched 5.1 innings to earn his first win of the season and second of his career. The sophomore gave up just one earned run and struck out three batters before giving way to Nick Boyles for just under one inning. Blake Brown pitched the final three stanzas to earn his first collegiate save. The freshman gave up just one hit and fanned four batters. The Bulldogs' three pitchers combined to give up just two walks and one hit batter.
Cody Wager (L, 4-4) pitched the complete game for Longwood, giving up nine hits and two earned runs while striking out 10.
BULLDOG BITES
TOMORROW'S STARTERS: UNC Ashville will send freshman left-hander Greg Gasparro (3-3) to the mound to start Saturday's game. Longwood will turn to Steven Farkas (1-2). Gasparro will be making his 10th start of the year and 16th appearance. He enters Saturday with a 3-3 record in 54.1 innings of work that has seen him strike out 43 batters. His 43 batters struck out is second to only senior Spencer Orr. Farkas boasts a 3.05 ERA, lowest of the three Longwood starters for the weekend. He has pitched 38.1 innings this season.
TURNING DOUBLE PLAYS: The Bulldogs turned two double plays Friday afternoon, giving them 41 on the year.
TIETJEN's STOLEN BASE: When senior Joe Tietjen stole second in the bottom of the fifth inning Friday afternoon, it marked the 18th time this season the senior center fielder has swiped a base, moving him up into sole possession of eighth all-time for stolen bases in a single season. It was also the 41st stolen base of his career. Tietjen is currently fifth all-time in career stolen bases and needs just four more to reach fourth.
SENIOR DAY: Prior to Saturday's start, UNC Asheville will recognize the five seniors on the team for the contributions to the program. Those seniors include Kyle Carruthers, Derek Smith, Justin Woods, Joe Tietjen and Spencer Orr.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs and Lancers will continue the series tomorrow, Saturday, May 13, with a 6 p.m. first pitch. The two will conclude the series on Sunday, May 13, with a 1 p.m. first pitch. The Bulldogs will also hold a special Mother's Day ceremony on Sunday.
QUOTABLES
"This is a good way to start off a series. I thought we did a great job on the mound with our three pitchers throwing strikes and limiting extra bases. Offensively, we had good at-bats and got quality at-bats throughout the game. However, we need to clean up our defense if we want our pitchers to go later into ball games." – Scott Friedholm
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wilson, Danny (1-1)
L: WAGER, Cody (4-4)
S: Brown, Blake (1)
Batting:
2B: MITCHELL, J. 1
RBI: MITCHELL, J. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TUCKER, Antwaun 1
HBP: BLAKENEY, Nate 1
Batting:
2B: Tietjen, Joe 1
RBI: Pagano, Carmine 1 ; Tietjen, Joe 1
SF: Pagano, Carmine 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pagano, Carmine 1 ; Carruthers, Kyle 1 ; Serricchio, Tyler 1 ; Harris, Kole 1
SB: Wilson, Danny 1 ; Carruthers, Kyle 1 ; Tietjen, Joe 1
HBP: Madole, Jake 1
PO: Tietjen, Joe 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
p/dh
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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RHP
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OF
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LHP/OF
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INF/RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
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/ Baseball
INF
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OF/RHP
/ 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