University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Thursday, May 18
Boiling Springs, NC
5 PM
UNC Asheville
at
Gardner-Webb
Photo by: UNC Asheville
Bulldogs Preparing for Final Regular-Season Series at Gardner-Webb
05.17.2017 | Baseball
Asheville-Gardner-Webb Notes (PDF)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team will close the curtains on the regular-season this weekend with a three-game series at Gardner-Webb. A lot is on the line as there is a tight race going on in the heart of the standings heading into the upcoming Big South Conference Baseball Championship Presented by Hardee's. The Bulldogs in blue and the Runnin' Bulldogs in red will start things off with a 5 p.m. first pitch on Thursday, May 18. The two will then play a 6 p.m. game on Friday, May 19, and will close out the regular-season with a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday, May 20.
THE MATCHUP
Teams:Â UNC Asheville (22-28, 10-11 Big South) at Gardner-Webb (22-27, 9-12 Big South)
Location:Â Boiling Springs, N.C. / John Henry Moss Stadium and Bill Masters Field
When: Thursday, May 18 – 5 p.m. / Friday, May 19 – 6 p.m. / Saturday, May 20 – 2 p.m.
Live Stats:Â www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
INSIDE THE SERIES: Since 1987, UNC Asheville is 17-23 against Gardner-Webb. Since the Runnin' Bulldogs joined the Big South Conference prior to the 2008-09 year, Asheville is 9-13 against Gardner-Webb in regular-season Big South Conference games. Two years ago, the Bulldogs in blue and white took the three-game series 2-1 on the road, but the Runnin' Bulldogs in red and white swept the series last season in Asheville.
SCOUTING THE RUNNIN' BULLDOGS: Gardner-Webb enters the final weekend of the regular-season on an eight-game losing skid, including being swept in Big South Conference action by Winthrop last weekend. The Runnin' Bulldogs are 22-27 on the year and 9-12 in Big South Conference action. GWU took one of three from Campbell and High Point and swept Longwood at home. The Runnin' Bulldogs also took two of three from Charleston Southern before taking one game one from Liberty and one from Presbyterian. Last weekend, GWU dropped a pair of games to West Virginia by scores of 15-5 and 4-3. Gardner-Webb is led on offense by Collin Thacker's .354 batting average as well as Corey Howard's .317 and Danny Sullivan's .316. Thacker boasts 69 hits on the year, including a team-best 13 doubles while Sullivan leads the way with 16 home runs. Two other Runnin' Bullodgs boast double-digit homers in Chandler Redmond's 13 and Gage Parham's 11. On the base paths, Mickey Dugan is the biggest threat as he has swiped 13 bases so far this season. Close on his heels is Mason Fox with 11. On the mound, the Runnin' Bulldogs will send junior right-hander Bradley Hallman to the mound first. Gardner-Webb will then send a pair of freshmen to the bump on Friday and Saturday with righty Landon Mitchell toeing the rubber first on Friday and southpaw Isaac Campbell doing so on Saturday. Hallman leads the way with a 3.35 ERA and a 3-5 record in 13 starts. Mitchell brings a 5.50 ERA and 4-4 record into the weekend and will be making his 11th start and 14th appearance. Campbell is currently 1-5 on the year in nine starts and 13 appearances and holds a 9.30 ERA. Hallman has pitched the most of the trio with 86.0 innings of work and has struck out 47 batters to Mitchell's 31 and Campbell's 24.
WEEKEND PITCHING ROTATION: This weekend, the Bulldogs' pitching rotation will feature a pair of freshmen getting the starts on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, lefty Greg Gasparro will make his 11th start and 17th appearance of the season. He brings a 4.70 ERA and 3-4 record into the weekend. Gasparro has pitched 59.1 innings and struck out 46 batters, second-most on the squad. Harris, who has earned the start on Friday, will be making his sixth start in his 18th appearance. He brings a 5.14 ERA and 4-3 record into the weekend. In 49.0 innings of work, he has struck out 28 batters and opponents are batting just .224 against him. Saturday's starter is yet to be determined.
EYE ON THE BIG SOUTH STANDINGS: Heading into the final week of the regular-season, UNC Asheville is paying close attention to the Big South Conference standings. The Bulldogs currently control their own destiny, sitting in a tie for fifth with a 10-11 (.476) record in Big South Conference action. The Bulldogs are tied with Radford with identical conference records, but the Highlanders hold the advantage having taken two of three from the Bulldogs earlier this year. Radford will play first-place Winthrop this weekend at home while the Bulldogs will tangle with Gardner-Webb on the road. GWU sits seventh with a 9-12 (.429) record in Big South action. Gardner-Webb is in the midst of an eight-game losing skid since taking the first game of a three-game series with Presbyterian three weeks ago. Campbell, which sits eighth with an 8-13 (.381) league mark, sits eighth and hosts last-place Longwood this weekend while ninth-place Charleston Southern has wrapped up the regular season with a 9-15 (.375) conference mark.
ASHEVILLE BULLDOGS AT HOME: For the first time since the 2012 season, UNC Asheville baseball boasts a winning record at home. This year, the Bulldogs went 12-11 at home, including last weekend's 2-1 series win over Longwood. In 2012, UNC Asheville went 13-12 in home games.
20-WIN SEASON: The Bulldogs are guaranteed to finish the year with at least 20 wins for the second time in the Scott Friedholm era. In the NCAA Division I era, only Bill Hillier, Matt Myers and Willie Stewart recorded more 20-win seasons with the Bulldogs as all three had three 20-win campaigns. Hillier's 1997, 1998 and 1999 teams finished with 20, 27 and 21 wins, respectively. Myers' 2002, 2003 and 2004 squads recorded 21, 27 and 26 wins. Stewart's 2006 Big South Conference Tournament Champions, 2007 and 2008 teams recorded 28, 22 and 24 wins. Friedholm is the only other Bulldog head coach to have multiple 20-win campaigns. The 22 wins is tied for the ninth-most wins in program history for a single season. The 2006 team set the standard with 28 wins while the 1990 squad went 25-25.
CONTROLLING THE SERIES WITH ETSU OF LATE: Tuesday's win over East Tennessee State 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 one 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 against East Tennessee State. 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 against East Tennessee State. 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.
SWIPING BASES: When senior Joe Tietjen stole second in the bottom of the fifth inning of the game against Longwood on Friday, May 12, 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.
LEGGING OUT THREE BASES: Senior Joe Tietjen rocketed a triple off the fence in right-center field during the game to earn his fourth three-bag hit of the season. He now has seven for his career and is tied for sixth all-time in the program history. Tietjen's four triples on the year is tied for sixth-most in program history for a single season.
CATCHING GREEDY RUNNERS: With his two pickoffs and one runner caught stealing Wednesday, May 10, against third-ranked North Carolina, Joe Gruszka has now thrown out 16 runners on the year. He is tied with Andrew Friedholm for tops on the team with 13 runners caught stealing and leads the squad with three pickoffs. As a team, UNC Asheville currently boasts 31 runners caught stealing and 13 pickoffs. The 31 runners caught attempting to steal leads the league. The 13 pickoffs is second in the Big South Conference.
CANNONS FOR ARMS IN THE OUTFIELD: UNC Asheville boasts 15 outfield assists on the year. The mark has the Bulldogs second in the country in the category to Charleston Southern. Joe Tietjen leads the Bulldogs' outfielders with five assists, a mark that has him tied for sixth in the nation in the category. Justin Woods now has four assists while Danny Wilson boasts three in the outfield. Kyle Carruthers has two and Tanner Bush has one.
WALKING UP THE RANKS: Danny Wilson moved up another spot in the UNC Asheville baseball record book for walks in a single season as he drew a walk last weekend against Longwood. The walk was the 39th of the season for the sophomore, moving him into a tie for seventh all-time for walks in a single season. He needs just one more walk to claim sole possession of seventh and two more to move into a tie for fourth. First-year student assistant coach Pete Guy holds the program record for most walks in a single season with 53 last year.
WILSON WALKING NATIONALLY: Danny Wilson's 39 bases on balls this season has him currently tied for 31st in the nation in the category. He is also 47th in all of NCAA Division I with 0.79 walks drawn per game.
TIETJEN LEAVING HIS MARK: Senior center fielder Joe Tietjen is currently in the top-10 in program history in nine offensive categories, including seven for career stats and two for single season stats. Tietjen enters the weekend fifth all-time with 41 career stolen bases. He is also sixth with 135 runs scored and tied for sixth with seven career triples, seventh with 317 total bases, eighth with 120 runs batted in, ninth with 41 doubles and tied for ninth with 21 career home runs. This season, Tietjen is tied for sixth all-time for triples in a single season (4) as well as stolen bases (18).
NEXT MARKS TO REACH: Joe Tietjen needs four more stolen bases to move into a tie for fourth all-time for stolen bases in a career and is just two away from tying fourth for stolen bases in a single season. He is just six runs scored and one triple away from fifth all-time in both categories and his next triple would move him into a tie for fifth all-time for three-baggers in a single season. Tietjen is nine bases away from sixth all-time, three RBIs away from seventh and is two doubles away from a tie for seventh. He is three home runs away from a two-way tie for seventh. He is also just one hit away from 200 for his career and he needs seven to crack the top-10 for hits in a career.
LAST TIME OUT (vs. Longwood, 5/14/17): 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 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. 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.
WALK IT OFF: The series finale against Radford on Sunday, May 7, was the second time this season that the Bulldogs have won in walk-off fashion. Coincidentally, the last time the Bulldogs won in walk-off fashion, it was also on a Sunday and it was in the series finale with Charleston Southern when UNC Asheville won 2-1 in the ninth.
BREAKING THE TREND: The Bulldogs broke another trend on Sunday, May 7, against Radford. The win in the series finale ended a 23-game winning streak by the Highlanders over the Bulldogs. Prior to Sunday, the Bulldogs hadn't beaten Radford since the 2008 campaign.
FANNING BATTERS: On Sunday, May 7, the six UNC Asheville pitchers struck out 22 batters between the two games of the doubleheader with Radford.
WINNING THE SERIES OVER CAMPBELL: The 11-9 win over Campbell on Sunday, April 23, marked the first time since the 1990 campaign that a UNC Asheville baseball team 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. Due to the way the conference schedules baseball series, the Bulldogs and Camels had not played each other since the 2014 season. The Bulldogs' 10-5 win over the Camels in the first game of the series on Friday, April 21, marked the first win in the overall series for UNC Asheville since the second game of a three-game series with Campbell in 2012.
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.
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QUOTABLES
"We have a really great opportunity ahead of us this weekend. We control our own destiny and just have to go out there and play our best in three games this weekend. We are looking forward to the challenge that playing Gardner-Webb on the road presents and hopefully we can carry the recent momentum over into this series. Everybody just has to do their job and minimize the mistakes to give ourselves a chance each time out." – Scott Friedholm
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team will close the curtains on the regular-season this weekend with a three-game series at Gardner-Webb. A lot is on the line as there is a tight race going on in the heart of the standings heading into the upcoming Big South Conference Baseball Championship Presented by Hardee's. The Bulldogs in blue and the Runnin' Bulldogs in red will start things off with a 5 p.m. first pitch on Thursday, May 18. The two will then play a 6 p.m. game on Friday, May 19, and will close out the regular-season with a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday, May 20.
THE MATCHUP
Teams:Â UNC Asheville (22-28, 10-11 Big South) at Gardner-Webb (22-27, 9-12 Big South)
Location:Â Boiling Springs, N.C. / John Henry Moss Stadium and Bill Masters Field
When: Thursday, May 18 – 5 p.m. / Friday, May 19 – 6 p.m. / Saturday, May 20 – 2 p.m.
Live Stats:Â www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
INSIDE THE SERIES: Since 1987, UNC Asheville is 17-23 against Gardner-Webb. Since the Runnin' Bulldogs joined the Big South Conference prior to the 2008-09 year, Asheville is 9-13 against Gardner-Webb in regular-season Big South Conference games. Two years ago, the Bulldogs in blue and white took the three-game series 2-1 on the road, but the Runnin' Bulldogs in red and white swept the series last season in Asheville.
SCOUTING THE RUNNIN' BULLDOGS: Gardner-Webb enters the final weekend of the regular-season on an eight-game losing skid, including being swept in Big South Conference action by Winthrop last weekend. The Runnin' Bulldogs are 22-27 on the year and 9-12 in Big South Conference action. GWU took one of three from Campbell and High Point and swept Longwood at home. The Runnin' Bulldogs also took two of three from Charleston Southern before taking one game one from Liberty and one from Presbyterian. Last weekend, GWU dropped a pair of games to West Virginia by scores of 15-5 and 4-3. Gardner-Webb is led on offense by Collin Thacker's .354 batting average as well as Corey Howard's .317 and Danny Sullivan's .316. Thacker boasts 69 hits on the year, including a team-best 13 doubles while Sullivan leads the way with 16 home runs. Two other Runnin' Bullodgs boast double-digit homers in Chandler Redmond's 13 and Gage Parham's 11. On the base paths, Mickey Dugan is the biggest threat as he has swiped 13 bases so far this season. Close on his heels is Mason Fox with 11. On the mound, the Runnin' Bulldogs will send junior right-hander Bradley Hallman to the mound first. Gardner-Webb will then send a pair of freshmen to the bump on Friday and Saturday with righty Landon Mitchell toeing the rubber first on Friday and southpaw Isaac Campbell doing so on Saturday. Hallman leads the way with a 3.35 ERA and a 3-5 record in 13 starts. Mitchell brings a 5.50 ERA and 4-4 record into the weekend and will be making his 11th start and 14th appearance. Campbell is currently 1-5 on the year in nine starts and 13 appearances and holds a 9.30 ERA. Hallman has pitched the most of the trio with 86.0 innings of work and has struck out 47 batters to Mitchell's 31 and Campbell's 24.
WEEKEND PITCHING ROTATION: This weekend, the Bulldogs' pitching rotation will feature a pair of freshmen getting the starts on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, lefty Greg Gasparro will make his 11th start and 17th appearance of the season. He brings a 4.70 ERA and 3-4 record into the weekend. Gasparro has pitched 59.1 innings and struck out 46 batters, second-most on the squad. Harris, who has earned the start on Friday, will be making his sixth start in his 18th appearance. He brings a 5.14 ERA and 4-3 record into the weekend. In 49.0 innings of work, he has struck out 28 batters and opponents are batting just .224 against him. Saturday's starter is yet to be determined.
EYE ON THE BIG SOUTH STANDINGS: Heading into the final week of the regular-season, UNC Asheville is paying close attention to the Big South Conference standings. The Bulldogs currently control their own destiny, sitting in a tie for fifth with a 10-11 (.476) record in Big South Conference action. The Bulldogs are tied with Radford with identical conference records, but the Highlanders hold the advantage having taken two of three from the Bulldogs earlier this year. Radford will play first-place Winthrop this weekend at home while the Bulldogs will tangle with Gardner-Webb on the road. GWU sits seventh with a 9-12 (.429) record in Big South action. Gardner-Webb is in the midst of an eight-game losing skid since taking the first game of a three-game series with Presbyterian three weeks ago. Campbell, which sits eighth with an 8-13 (.381) league mark, sits eighth and hosts last-place Longwood this weekend while ninth-place Charleston Southern has wrapped up the regular season with a 9-15 (.375) conference mark.
ASHEVILLE BULLDOGS AT HOME: For the first time since the 2012 season, UNC Asheville baseball boasts a winning record at home. This year, the Bulldogs went 12-11 at home, including last weekend's 2-1 series win over Longwood. In 2012, UNC Asheville went 13-12 in home games.
20-WIN SEASON: The Bulldogs are guaranteed to finish the year with at least 20 wins for the second time in the Scott Friedholm era. In the NCAA Division I era, only Bill Hillier, Matt Myers and Willie Stewart recorded more 20-win seasons with the Bulldogs as all three had three 20-win campaigns. Hillier's 1997, 1998 and 1999 teams finished with 20, 27 and 21 wins, respectively. Myers' 2002, 2003 and 2004 squads recorded 21, 27 and 26 wins. Stewart's 2006 Big South Conference Tournament Champions, 2007 and 2008 teams recorded 28, 22 and 24 wins. Friedholm is the only other Bulldog head coach to have multiple 20-win campaigns. The 22 wins is tied for the ninth-most wins in program history for a single season. The 2006 team set the standard with 28 wins while the 1990 squad went 25-25.
CONTROLLING THE SERIES WITH ETSU OF LATE: Tuesday's win over East Tennessee State 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 one 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 against East Tennessee State. 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 against East Tennessee State. 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.
SWIPING BASES: When senior Joe Tietjen stole second in the bottom of the fifth inning of the game against Longwood on Friday, May 12, 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.
LEGGING OUT THREE BASES: Senior Joe Tietjen rocketed a triple off the fence in right-center field during the game to earn his fourth three-bag hit of the season. He now has seven for his career and is tied for sixth all-time in the program history. Tietjen's four triples on the year is tied for sixth-most in program history for a single season.
CATCHING GREEDY RUNNERS: With his two pickoffs and one runner caught stealing Wednesday, May 10, against third-ranked North Carolina, Joe Gruszka has now thrown out 16 runners on the year. He is tied with Andrew Friedholm for tops on the team with 13 runners caught stealing and leads the squad with three pickoffs. As a team, UNC Asheville currently boasts 31 runners caught stealing and 13 pickoffs. The 31 runners caught attempting to steal leads the league. The 13 pickoffs is second in the Big South Conference.
CANNONS FOR ARMS IN THE OUTFIELD: UNC Asheville boasts 15 outfield assists on the year. The mark has the Bulldogs second in the country in the category to Charleston Southern. Joe Tietjen leads the Bulldogs' outfielders with five assists, a mark that has him tied for sixth in the nation in the category. Justin Woods now has four assists while Danny Wilson boasts three in the outfield. Kyle Carruthers has two and Tanner Bush has one.
WALKING UP THE RANKS: Danny Wilson moved up another spot in the UNC Asheville baseball record book for walks in a single season as he drew a walk last weekend against Longwood. The walk was the 39th of the season for the sophomore, moving him into a tie for seventh all-time for walks in a single season. He needs just one more walk to claim sole possession of seventh and two more to move into a tie for fourth. First-year student assistant coach Pete Guy holds the program record for most walks in a single season with 53 last year.
WILSON WALKING NATIONALLY: Danny Wilson's 39 bases on balls this season has him currently tied for 31st in the nation in the category. He is also 47th in all of NCAA Division I with 0.79 walks drawn per game.
TIETJEN LEAVING HIS MARK: Senior center fielder Joe Tietjen is currently in the top-10 in program history in nine offensive categories, including seven for career stats and two for single season stats. Tietjen enters the weekend fifth all-time with 41 career stolen bases. He is also sixth with 135 runs scored and tied for sixth with seven career triples, seventh with 317 total bases, eighth with 120 runs batted in, ninth with 41 doubles and tied for ninth with 21 career home runs. This season, Tietjen is tied for sixth all-time for triples in a single season (4) as well as stolen bases (18).
NEXT MARKS TO REACH: Joe Tietjen needs four more stolen bases to move into a tie for fourth all-time for stolen bases in a career and is just two away from tying fourth for stolen bases in a single season. He is just six runs scored and one triple away from fifth all-time in both categories and his next triple would move him into a tie for fifth all-time for three-baggers in a single season. Tietjen is nine bases away from sixth all-time, three RBIs away from seventh and is two doubles away from a tie for seventh. He is three home runs away from a two-way tie for seventh. He is also just one hit away from 200 for his career and he needs seven to crack the top-10 for hits in a career.
LAST TIME OUT (vs. Longwood, 5/14/17): 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 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. 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.
WALK IT OFF: The series finale against Radford on Sunday, May 7, was the second time this season that the Bulldogs have won in walk-off fashion. Coincidentally, the last time the Bulldogs won in walk-off fashion, it was also on a Sunday and it was in the series finale with Charleston Southern when UNC Asheville won 2-1 in the ninth.
BREAKING THE TREND: The Bulldogs broke another trend on Sunday, May 7, against Radford. The win in the series finale ended a 23-game winning streak by the Highlanders over the Bulldogs. Prior to Sunday, the Bulldogs hadn't beaten Radford since the 2008 campaign.
FANNING BATTERS: On Sunday, May 7, the six UNC Asheville pitchers struck out 22 batters between the two games of the doubleheader with Radford.
WINNING THE SERIES OVER CAMPBELL: The 11-9 win over Campbell on Sunday, April 23, marked the first time since the 1990 campaign that a UNC Asheville baseball team 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. Due to the way the conference schedules baseball series, the Bulldogs and Camels had not played each other since the 2014 season. The Bulldogs' 10-5 win over the Camels in the first game of the series on Friday, April 21, marked the first win in the overall series for UNC Asheville since the second game of a three-game series with Campbell in 2012.
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.
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QUOTABLES
"We have a really great opportunity ahead of us this weekend. We control our own destiny and just have to go out there and play our best in three games this weekend. We are looking forward to the challenge that playing Gardner-Webb on the road presents and hopefully we can carry the recent momentum over into this series. Everybody just has to do their job and minimize the mistakes to give ourselves a chance each time out." – 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