University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Friday, May 26
Lexington, SC
9:30 AM
UNC Asheville
24-31
2
vs
1
Liberty
32-24
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UNC Asheville
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
5
3
Liberty
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
5
0
Photo by: UNC Asheville
Sixth-Seeded Bulldogs Knock Off No. 2 Seed Liberty Off Lankford’s Ninth-Inning, Two-Run Homer
05.26.2017 | Baseball
Tournament Site – BigSouthSports.com
Tournament Bracket – BigSouthSports.com
Tickets – BigSouthSports.com
LEXINGTON, S.C. – Up until Friday afternoon, Liberty's Shane Quarterley had given up just one home run all season in 45.1 innings of work. In Friday's first elimination game of the 2017 Big South Conference Baseball Championship Presented by Hardee's at Lexington County Baseball Stadium, UNC Asheville's Brandon Lankford made it two on the year as the freshman third baseman lifted the sixth-seeded Bulldogs to a 2-1 victory over the second-seeded Flames with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth.
UNC Asheville (24-32) advances to play Saturday against the loser of the tournament's game-seven between No. 7 Gardner-Webb and No. 3 Presbyterian while Liberty (32-24) sees its season come to an end.
Liberty took a 1-0 lead into the top of the ninth behind starter Jack DeGroat's six innings of work that saw him strike out 13 batters while holding the Bulldogs to just one hit. Liberty's lone run came in the bottom of the fifth.
In the top of the ninth, Joe Zayatz came on to pinch hit for the Dogs with one out on the board. Zayatz singled to right field and the speedy Tanner Bush immediately came on to pinch run. Lankford then watched strike one go by, swung at strike two and watched a ball miss the zone before unloading with a no-doubter over the fence in left field. The ball traveled over 400 feet to give Lankford his 10th homer of the season.
In the bottom of the ninth, Liberty attempted to at least extend the game to extras as Eric Grabowski walked to lead off. Josh Barrick came on to pinch run and made it all the way to third as Eric Whitecavage and the Bulldog defense attempted to close out the game.
With runners on the corners and two outs on the board, Jonathan Embry came on to pinch hit and grounded out to Chris Troost at second to end the game.
Whitecavage (W, 5-0) improved to 5-0 on the year in four scoreless innings of work that saw him give up just one hit while striking out two. Freshman Greg Gasparro started the game for UNC Asheville, pitching the first five frames while striking out five batters.
Quarterley (L, 3-2) was saddled with the loss in three innings of work that saw him give up four hits and two earned runs.
At the plate, Danny Wilson led the way for the Bulldogs with a 2-for-3 outing that included his team-leading 40th walk of the year. Lankford, Andrew Friedholm and Zayatz all garnered a hit in the contest, as well.
BULLDOG BITES
GOING YARD: In the top of the ninth inning of Friday's win over No. 2 Liberty, Brandon Lankford hit his 10th home run of the season.
PICKING RUNNERS OFF: UNC Asheville picked off a pair of runners Friday afternoon, giving the Bulldogs 16 on the year. Eric Whitecavage recorded his third pickoff of the season, tying freshman catcher Joe Gruszka and senior pitcher/outfielder Justin Woods for tops on the team.
WHITECAVAGE EARNING THE WIN: Eric Whitecavage earned his fifth win of the season Friday afternoon. Whitecavage is 5-0 on the year with three saves and a 4.01 ERA in 27 appearances and 42.2 innings of work.
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 Friday against Liberty. The walk was the 40th of the season for the sophomore, moving him into sole possession of seventh all-time for walks in a single season. He needs just one more walk 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.
ASHEVILLE IN THE TOURNAMENT: The Bulldogs are playing in their 16th appearance in the Big South Conference Championship and first since 2012. The Bulldogs' win on Friday broke a six-game skid as the Bulldogs hadn't won a tournament game since 2008. It was also the 20th win for UNC Asheville in the postseason tournament.
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. The Bulldogs' 24 wins are the most by a UNC Asheville team since the 2012 squad finished the year with 25 wins.
UP NEXT
The sixth-seeded Bulldogs (24-31) will now play another elimination game, this one against the loser of game-seven of the tournament between No. 7 seed Gardner-Webb and No. 3 seed Presbyterian.
QUOTABLES
"Great job today by our pitching staff. Greg Gasparro was terrific and Eric Whitecavage came in and threw a great last four innings for us. Obviously, we need to hit more to create more opportunities on offense and get that big hit. We were fortunate enough today that Brandon Lankford had that big hit in the ninth and it gave us another chance in this tournament." - Scott Friedholm
Tournament Bracket – BigSouthSports.com
Tickets – BigSouthSports.com
LEXINGTON, S.C. – Up until Friday afternoon, Liberty's Shane Quarterley had given up just one home run all season in 45.1 innings of work. In Friday's first elimination game of the 2017 Big South Conference Baseball Championship Presented by Hardee's at Lexington County Baseball Stadium, UNC Asheville's Brandon Lankford made it two on the year as the freshman third baseman lifted the sixth-seeded Bulldogs to a 2-1 victory over the second-seeded Flames with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth.
UNC Asheville (24-32) advances to play Saturday against the loser of the tournament's game-seven between No. 7 Gardner-Webb and No. 3 Presbyterian while Liberty (32-24) sees its season come to an end.
Liberty took a 1-0 lead into the top of the ninth behind starter Jack DeGroat's six innings of work that saw him strike out 13 batters while holding the Bulldogs to just one hit. Liberty's lone run came in the bottom of the fifth.
In the top of the ninth, Joe Zayatz came on to pinch hit for the Dogs with one out on the board. Zayatz singled to right field and the speedy Tanner Bush immediately came on to pinch run. Lankford then watched strike one go by, swung at strike two and watched a ball miss the zone before unloading with a no-doubter over the fence in left field. The ball traveled over 400 feet to give Lankford his 10th homer of the season.
In the bottom of the ninth, Liberty attempted to at least extend the game to extras as Eric Grabowski walked to lead off. Josh Barrick came on to pinch run and made it all the way to third as Eric Whitecavage and the Bulldog defense attempted to close out the game.
With runners on the corners and two outs on the board, Jonathan Embry came on to pinch hit and grounded out to Chris Troost at second to end the game.
Whitecavage (W, 5-0) improved to 5-0 on the year in four scoreless innings of work that saw him give up just one hit while striking out two. Freshman Greg Gasparro started the game for UNC Asheville, pitching the first five frames while striking out five batters.
Quarterley (L, 3-2) was saddled with the loss in three innings of work that saw him give up four hits and two earned runs.
At the plate, Danny Wilson led the way for the Bulldogs with a 2-for-3 outing that included his team-leading 40th walk of the year. Lankford, Andrew Friedholm and Zayatz all garnered a hit in the contest, as well.
BULLDOG BITES
GOING YARD: In the top of the ninth inning of Friday's win over No. 2 Liberty, Brandon Lankford hit his 10th home run of the season.
PICKING RUNNERS OFF: UNC Asheville picked off a pair of runners Friday afternoon, giving the Bulldogs 16 on the year. Eric Whitecavage recorded his third pickoff of the season, tying freshman catcher Joe Gruszka and senior pitcher/outfielder Justin Woods for tops on the team.
WHITECAVAGE EARNING THE WIN: Eric Whitecavage earned his fifth win of the season Friday afternoon. Whitecavage is 5-0 on the year with three saves and a 4.01 ERA in 27 appearances and 42.2 innings of work.
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 Friday against Liberty. The walk was the 40th of the season for the sophomore, moving him into sole possession of seventh all-time for walks in a single season. He needs just one more walk 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.
ASHEVILLE IN THE TOURNAMENT: The Bulldogs are playing in their 16th appearance in the Big South Conference Championship and first since 2012. The Bulldogs' win on Friday broke a six-game skid as the Bulldogs hadn't won a tournament game since 2008. It was also the 20th win for UNC Asheville in the postseason tournament.
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. The Bulldogs' 24 wins are the most by a UNC Asheville team since the 2012 squad finished the year with 25 wins.
UP NEXT
The sixth-seeded Bulldogs (24-31) will now play another elimination game, this one against the loser of game-seven of the tournament between No. 7 seed Gardner-Webb and No. 3 seed Presbyterian.
QUOTABLES
"Great job today by our pitching staff. Greg Gasparro was terrific and Eric Whitecavage came in and threw a great last four innings for us. Obviously, we need to hit more to create more opportunities on offense and get that big hit. We were fortunate enough today that Brandon Lankford had that big hit in the ninth and it gave us another chance in this tournament." - Scott Friedholm
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Whitecavage, Eric (4-0)
L: QUARTERLEY (3-2)
Batting:
HR: Lankford, Brandon 1
RBI: Lankford, Brandon 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bush, Tanner 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 1
CS: Wilson, Danny 1
Batting:
RBI: BARBEE, J. 1
SH: MCDYRE, T. 1 ; KOWALO, A. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ARTIS, D.J. 1
SB: ARTIS, D.J. 1 ; BARBEE, J. 1
CS: ARTIS, D.J. 1 ; BARBEE, J. 1
PO: BARBEE, J. 1 ; BARRICK, J. 1 ; SHEPHERD, W. 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
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H
2
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
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LHP/OF
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C
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INF
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INF
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RHP
/ BaseballINF/RHP
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OF/RHP
/ BaseballOF/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