University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Tuesday, May 16
Johnson City, TN
6:30 PM
UNC Asheville
22-28
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East Tennessee State
24-27
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UNC Asheville
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ETSU
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Photo by: UNC Asheville
Bulldogs Belt 12 Hits, Four Extra-Base Knocks to Down ETSU 6-4
05.16.2017 | Baseball
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The UNC Asheville baseball team continued its winning ways Tuesday night as the Bulldogs downed East Tennessee State 6-4 on the road.
The win was the fourth in the last six games for UNC Asheville (22-28) and marks the fourth time this season the Bulldogs have won back-to-back games.
Eight different Bulldogs registered a hit in the non-conference matchup, including four multi-hit performances. Freshman catcher Tyler Serricchio carried over the momentum from his solid Sunday against Longwood, going 2-for-5 with a run scored against ETSU (26-29). Seniors Joe Tietjen and Justin Woods as well as redshirt freshman Jake Madole also recorded two hits each. Tietjen went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in and a run scored as he belted his seventh home run of the season in the contest. Brandon Lankford matched Tietjen with a pair of RBIs.
The game was a back-and-forth affair early on as the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second only to have ETSU score two runs in the bottom of the frame, claiming a 2-1 lead. The Bulldogs then retook the lead in the top of the third with a pair of runs before the Buccaneers tied things up at three-all in the bottom of the stanza.
In the top of the second, Madole drove in the first run of the game with a single down the left field line to Serricchio.
In the third, Lankford recorded his pair of RBIs with a single up the middle, scoring the senior tandem of Woods and Kyle Carruthers.
After two scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth, the Bulldogs exploded for three runs in the top of the sixth, including Tietjen's two-run bomb that was just fair of the left field foul pole and scored Carmine Pagano. Prior to that, Danny Wilson grounded out to the Buc's second baseman, giving Madole enough time to race home from third.
Things got a tad dicey in the bottom of the ninth as the Buccaneers loaded the bases with just one out on the board, forcing a pitching change for the Bulldogs. Eric Whitecavage came on for the save and earned his third save of the year despite ETSU pulling to within two.
UNC Asheville utilized seven pitchers Tuesday night with Jesse Juday (W, 1-1) earning his first win of the year. The junior right-hander went a team-high three innings while giving up just one hit and one unearned run. He also struck out two batters. Whitecavage (S, 3) pitched the final two-thirds of the ninth and gave up one hit. Justin Woods started the game on the mound for the Bulldogs and Ryan Tapp matched Juday's strikeout total with two.
ETSU's Daniel Sweeney (L, 1-1) was saddled with the loss in just two-thirds of an inning pitched. He was one of seven Buccaneers to toe the rubber in the loss.
BULLDOG BITES
CONTROLLING THE SERIES OF LATE: Tuesday's win over ETSU was the fifth win in the last six meetings between the two. The Bulldogs are now 5-1 against ETSU under head coach Scott Friedholm.
TURNING DOUBLE PLAYS: The Bulldogs turned a double play Tuesday evening against ETSU. It was the 44th on the year giving UNC Asheville 11 more than last season. The 2015 Bulldogs turned 57 double plays while the 2014 'Dogs rolled up 35. The Bulldogs are currently third in the Big South Conference for double plays behind Campbell and Liberty.
SAVING THE DAY: Eric Whitecavage earned his third save of the season and sixth of his career, Tuesday night. The six career saves moves him into a tie for eighth all-time in the category. He is now just one appearance away from breaking into the top-10 for appearances in a single season.
STILL GOING: Senior Joe Tietjen homered for the 21st time in his career Tuesday night. The two-run bomb in the top of the sixth was the seventh of the season for Tietjen. His 21 career homers has him tied for ninth all-time in program history for the category.
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville will play the final three-game Big South Conference series of the season this weekend, beginning with a 5 p.m. contest on Thursday, May 18. The two will reconvene at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 19, and will close out the regular-season with a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday, May 20.
QUOTABLES
"Tonight was a good all-around game. Offensively, everybody contributed with quality at-bats. We played a pretty clean game defensively and our pitchers threw strikes. Overall, we gave ourselves a chance to win tonight. But it's time to flush it and start preparing for Gardner-Webb." – Scott Friedholm
The win was the fourth in the last six games for UNC Asheville (22-28) and marks the fourth time this season the Bulldogs have won back-to-back games.
Eight different Bulldogs registered a hit in the non-conference matchup, including four multi-hit performances. Freshman catcher Tyler Serricchio carried over the momentum from his solid Sunday against Longwood, going 2-for-5 with a run scored against ETSU (26-29). Seniors Joe Tietjen and Justin Woods as well as redshirt freshman Jake Madole also recorded two hits each. Tietjen went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in and a run scored as he belted his seventh home run of the season in the contest. Brandon Lankford matched Tietjen with a pair of RBIs.
The game was a back-and-forth affair early on as the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second only to have ETSU score two runs in the bottom of the frame, claiming a 2-1 lead. The Bulldogs then retook the lead in the top of the third with a pair of runs before the Buccaneers tied things up at three-all in the bottom of the stanza.
In the top of the second, Madole drove in the first run of the game with a single down the left field line to Serricchio.
In the third, Lankford recorded his pair of RBIs with a single up the middle, scoring the senior tandem of Woods and Kyle Carruthers.
After two scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth, the Bulldogs exploded for three runs in the top of the sixth, including Tietjen's two-run bomb that was just fair of the left field foul pole and scored Carmine Pagano. Prior to that, Danny Wilson grounded out to the Buc's second baseman, giving Madole enough time to race home from third.
Things got a tad dicey in the bottom of the ninth as the Buccaneers loaded the bases with just one out on the board, forcing a pitching change for the Bulldogs. Eric Whitecavage came on for the save and earned his third save of the year despite ETSU pulling to within two.
UNC Asheville utilized seven pitchers Tuesday night with Jesse Juday (W, 1-1) earning his first win of the year. The junior right-hander went a team-high three innings while giving up just one hit and one unearned run. He also struck out two batters. Whitecavage (S, 3) pitched the final two-thirds of the ninth and gave up one hit. Justin Woods started the game on the mound for the Bulldogs and Ryan Tapp matched Juday's strikeout total with two.
ETSU's Daniel Sweeney (L, 1-1) was saddled with the loss in just two-thirds of an inning pitched. He was one of seven Buccaneers to toe the rubber in the loss.
BULLDOG BITES
CONTROLLING THE SERIES OF LATE: Tuesday's win over ETSU was the fifth win in the last six meetings between the two. The Bulldogs are now 5-1 against ETSU under head coach Scott Friedholm.
TURNING DOUBLE PLAYS: The Bulldogs turned a double play Tuesday evening against ETSU. It was the 44th on the year giving UNC Asheville 11 more than last season. The 2015 Bulldogs turned 57 double plays while the 2014 'Dogs rolled up 35. The Bulldogs are currently third in the Big South Conference for double plays behind Campbell and Liberty.
SAVING THE DAY: Eric Whitecavage earned his third save of the season and sixth of his career, Tuesday night. The six career saves moves him into a tie for eighth all-time in the category. He is now just one appearance away from breaking into the top-10 for appearances in a single season.
STILL GOING: Senior Joe Tietjen homered for the 21st time in his career Tuesday night. The two-run bomb in the top of the sixth was the seventh of the season for Tietjen. His 21 career homers has him tied for ninth all-time in program history for the category.
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville will play the final three-game Big South Conference series of the season this weekend, beginning with a 5 p.m. contest on Thursday, May 18. The two will reconvene at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 19, and will close out the regular-season with a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday, May 20.
QUOTABLES
"Tonight was a good all-around game. Offensively, everybody contributed with quality at-bats. We played a pretty clean game defensively and our pitchers threw strikes. Overall, we gave ourselves a chance to win tonight. But it's time to flush it and start preparing for Gardner-Webb." – Scott Friedholm
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Juday, Jesse (1-1)
L: Daniel Sweeney (1-1)
S: Whitecavage, Eric (3)
Batting:
2B: Pagano, Carmine 1 ; Woods, Justin 2
HR: Tietjen, Joe 1
RBI: Wilson, Danny 1 ; Tietjen, Joe 2 ; Lankford, Brandon 2 ; Madole, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pagano, Carmine 1 ; Tietjen, Joe 1 ; Woods, Justin 1 ; Carruthers, Kyle 1 ; Serricchio, Tyler 1 ; Madole, Jake 1
Batting:
2B: Cullen Smith 1
RBI: Hagen Owenby 1 ; Scott Hoilman 1 ; Christian Bailey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Aaron Maher 1 ; Cullen Smith 2 ; Hunter Parker 1
SB: Aaron Maher 1 ; Hunter Parker 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
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H
2
RBI
2
p/dh
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
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RHP
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OF
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INF/RHP
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/ BaseballHighlights || Baseball || UNC Asheville vs Presbyterian (Game 3)
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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