University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Sunday, May 7
Asheville, N.C.
10 AM
UNC Asheville
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Radford
20-24, 0
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Radford
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UNC Asheville
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Photo by: UNC Asheville
Bulldogs Win Series Finale Off Gruszka’s Walk-Off Hit to Split Doubleheader with Radford
05.07.2017 | Baseball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team split Sunday's home Big South Conference doubleheader with Radford, falling 5-2 in game-one before taking the series finale 7-6 in 10 innings off a walk-off hit by Joe Gruszka.
The loss in the day's first game gave Radford (20-25, 8-10 Big South) the series win, but the Asheville win in the finale broke a streak of 23 straight games where Radford had beaten the Bulldogs (19-26, 8-10 Big South). The streak dated back to the 2008 season when UNC Asheville won the final two games of a three-game series against Radford and continued into the first two games of this weekend.
Game-1: RU 5, AVL 2
The first game of the day started bright and early at 10 a.m. The Highlanders came out swinging and carried momentum from Saturday's single game to go up 3-0 through the first three frames, scoring one run in the second and two in the third.
In the bottom of the fourth, UNC Asheville broke up the shutout and appeared poised to make some noise when Justin Woods doubled to left field, scoring fellow senior Kyle Carruthers from second. Two at-bats earlier, Carruthers singled up the middle and made it to second on a throwing error by the Radford pitcher in a failed pickoff attempt to set up the scoring opportunity.
Two batters later, Brandon Lankford recorded his 31st RBI of the season when he singled to left field, scoring Woods from third, pulling Asheville to within one run, 3-2 of Radford.
Despite the two-out rally, Radford was able to regroup and scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take the series with the 5-2 win.
Five different Bulldogs logged a hit in the day's first contest while four Highlanders had multi-hit outings.
Spencer Orr (2-4) was saddled with the loss despite striking out 11 batters in seven innings of work. Austin Gerber (4-1) earned the win, pitching two innings in relief for Danny Hrbek before Kyle Zurak came on to record his sixth save of the year, striking out six batters in the process.
Game-2: AVL 7, RU 6 (10 Inn.)
The day's second game appeared to be headed for the same result as the weekend's previous two contests as Radford steadily built up a 5-0 lead through the first seven innings.
Heading into the bottom of the ninth, Radford made a pitching change and it proved to be just what the Bulldogs needed as Joe Tietjen led things off with a single before Woods walked. Lankford then took advantage of the two runners on with no outs as he doubled down the right field line, scoring Tietjen. The run scored moved Tietjen into a tie for sixth all-time in program history for runs scored.
Tyler Serricchio then came on to pinch hit and sent a sacrifice fly to right field that gave Woods enough time to race home from third, setting the score at 5-2 with just one out.
Two at-bats later, Jake Madole singled to right-center field and scored Lankford before Gruszka came on to pinch run for the redshirt freshman.
With runners on the corners and just one out on the board, Carmine Pagano ripped his third double of the game to pull the Bulldogs to within one run, 5-4 of the Highlanders as Harris scored from third in the process. Gruszka advanced to third on the same play, setting up Danny Wilson with a prime opportunity to tie the game up at five-all. Wilson didn't disappoint as he skyed a sacrifice fly to deep right field, allowing Gruszka to cruise home, forcing extra innings.
The drama didn't stop there as Radford scored a single run in the top of the 10th inning with bases loaded and one out, setting the Bulldogs up for even more heroics in the bottom half of the inning.
In similar fashion as the inning before, Tietjen led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a double to right-center field before Woods walked, putting the go-ahead run on first. Lankford moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt an at-bat later.
In an attempt to give the infield a chance at a double play to end things, the Highlanders intentionally walked Derek Smith, loading the bases with one away with a pair of true freshmen coming up to the plate in the next two at-bats. Neither barely flinched.
Harris sent a sacrifice fly to center field on the third pitch he saw, scoring Tietjen before Gruszka ripped the third pitch he saw through the left side. The Bulldogs never even considered settling for an 11th inning as Woods rounded third off Gruszka's rip and raced home, beating the throw easily to win the game.
Pagano led a trio of Bulldogs at the plate with multi-hit games as he went 3-for-5 with an RBI. All three of his hits in the game were doubles. Tietjen and Lankford both logged two hits, Tietjen going 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored while Lankford went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. The two runs scored moved Tietjen into sole possession of sixth all-time in program history with 134 runs scored.
Four Highlanders had multi-hit performances in the game with Straton Podaras batting in three runs.
Greg Gasparro pitched the first six innings, striking out six batters, before giving way to Austin Fahr and Nick Boyles. Eric Whitecavage (4-0) came on to pitch the final two innings and earned the win, striking out two batters.
The Highlanders utilized five different pitchers with Mack Krupp (1-1) taking the loss as he pitched the final 1.2 innings while giving up seven earned runs, four walks and six hits while facing 15 batters.
BULLDOG BITES
WALK IT OFF: Sunday's series finale 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.
FANNING BATTERS: The six UNC Asheville pitchers struck out 22 batters Sunday between the two games.
CONTINUING HIS CLIMB: Joe Tietjen scored two runs Sunday, giving him 134 for his career. The mark has him now sitting in sole possession of sixth all-time in program history in the category.
BREAKING THE TREND: Similar to two weekends ago when UNC Asheville broke through with the first conference series win in Buies Creek, N.C., the Bulldogs broke another trend Sunday. 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.
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville will play a midweek game at No. 3 North Carolina on Wednesday, May 10. The game against the Tar Heels will feature a 6 p.m. first pitch.
QUOTABLES
"I'm proud of the resolve our guys showed in the second game today. To come back from five runs down in the ninth and then one run down in the 10th took guts and focus. However, we need to clean things up. Every weekend the games become more and more important and we cannot play with intensity and focus for just two of 19 innings. We need to get locked in and come ready to compete every at-bat of every inning, especially from here on out." – Scott Friedholm
The loss in the day's first game gave Radford (20-25, 8-10 Big South) the series win, but the Asheville win in the finale broke a streak of 23 straight games where Radford had beaten the Bulldogs (19-26, 8-10 Big South). The streak dated back to the 2008 season when UNC Asheville won the final two games of a three-game series against Radford and continued into the first two games of this weekend.
Game-1: RU 5, AVL 2
The first game of the day started bright and early at 10 a.m. The Highlanders came out swinging and carried momentum from Saturday's single game to go up 3-0 through the first three frames, scoring one run in the second and two in the third.
In the bottom of the fourth, UNC Asheville broke up the shutout and appeared poised to make some noise when Justin Woods doubled to left field, scoring fellow senior Kyle Carruthers from second. Two at-bats earlier, Carruthers singled up the middle and made it to second on a throwing error by the Radford pitcher in a failed pickoff attempt to set up the scoring opportunity.
Two batters later, Brandon Lankford recorded his 31st RBI of the season when he singled to left field, scoring Woods from third, pulling Asheville to within one run, 3-2 of Radford.
Despite the two-out rally, Radford was able to regroup and scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take the series with the 5-2 win.
Five different Bulldogs logged a hit in the day's first contest while four Highlanders had multi-hit outings.
Spencer Orr (2-4) was saddled with the loss despite striking out 11 batters in seven innings of work. Austin Gerber (4-1) earned the win, pitching two innings in relief for Danny Hrbek before Kyle Zurak came on to record his sixth save of the year, striking out six batters in the process.
Game-2: AVL 7, RU 6 (10 Inn.)
The day's second game appeared to be headed for the same result as the weekend's previous two contests as Radford steadily built up a 5-0 lead through the first seven innings.
Heading into the bottom of the ninth, Radford made a pitching change and it proved to be just what the Bulldogs needed as Joe Tietjen led things off with a single before Woods walked. Lankford then took advantage of the two runners on with no outs as he doubled down the right field line, scoring Tietjen. The run scored moved Tietjen into a tie for sixth all-time in program history for runs scored.
Tyler Serricchio then came on to pinch hit and sent a sacrifice fly to right field that gave Woods enough time to race home from third, setting the score at 5-2 with just one out.
Two at-bats later, Jake Madole singled to right-center field and scored Lankford before Gruszka came on to pinch run for the redshirt freshman.
With runners on the corners and just one out on the board, Carmine Pagano ripped his third double of the game to pull the Bulldogs to within one run, 5-4 of the Highlanders as Harris scored from third in the process. Gruszka advanced to third on the same play, setting up Danny Wilson with a prime opportunity to tie the game up at five-all. Wilson didn't disappoint as he skyed a sacrifice fly to deep right field, allowing Gruszka to cruise home, forcing extra innings.
The drama didn't stop there as Radford scored a single run in the top of the 10th inning with bases loaded and one out, setting the Bulldogs up for even more heroics in the bottom half of the inning.
In similar fashion as the inning before, Tietjen led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a double to right-center field before Woods walked, putting the go-ahead run on first. Lankford moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt an at-bat later.
In an attempt to give the infield a chance at a double play to end things, the Highlanders intentionally walked Derek Smith, loading the bases with one away with a pair of true freshmen coming up to the plate in the next two at-bats. Neither barely flinched.
Harris sent a sacrifice fly to center field on the third pitch he saw, scoring Tietjen before Gruszka ripped the third pitch he saw through the left side. The Bulldogs never even considered settling for an 11th inning as Woods rounded third off Gruszka's rip and raced home, beating the throw easily to win the game.
Pagano led a trio of Bulldogs at the plate with multi-hit games as he went 3-for-5 with an RBI. All three of his hits in the game were doubles. Tietjen and Lankford both logged two hits, Tietjen going 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored while Lankford went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. The two runs scored moved Tietjen into sole possession of sixth all-time in program history with 134 runs scored.
Four Highlanders had multi-hit performances in the game with Straton Podaras batting in three runs.
Greg Gasparro pitched the first six innings, striking out six batters, before giving way to Austin Fahr and Nick Boyles. Eric Whitecavage (4-0) came on to pitch the final two innings and earned the win, striking out two batters.
The Highlanders utilized five different pitchers with Mack Krupp (1-1) taking the loss as he pitched the final 1.2 innings while giving up seven earned runs, four walks and six hits while facing 15 batters.
BULLDOG BITES
WALK IT OFF: Sunday's series finale 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.
FANNING BATTERS: The six UNC Asheville pitchers struck out 22 batters Sunday between the two games.
CONTINUING HIS CLIMB: Joe Tietjen scored two runs Sunday, giving him 134 for his career. The mark has him now sitting in sole possession of sixth all-time in program history in the category.
BREAKING THE TREND: Similar to two weekends ago when UNC Asheville broke through with the first conference series win in Buies Creek, N.C., the Bulldogs broke another trend Sunday. 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.
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville will play a midweek game at No. 3 North Carolina on Wednesday, May 10. The game against the Tar Heels will feature a 6 p.m. first pitch.
QUOTABLES
"I'm proud of the resolve our guys showed in the second game today. To come back from five runs down in the ninth and then one run down in the 10th took guts and focus. However, we need to clean things up. Every weekend the games become more and more important and we cannot play with intensity and focus for just two of 19 innings. We need to get locked in and come ready to compete every at-bat of every inning, especially from here on out." – Scott Friedholm
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: GERBER, Austin (4-1)
L: Orr, Spencer (2-4)
S: ZURAK, Kyle (6)
Batting:
HR: HORWITZ, Spencer 2 ; WISE, Luke 1
RBI: HORWITZ, Spencer 2 ; MIANO, Anthony 2 ; WISE, Luke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BUTLER, Kyle 1 ; HRBEK, Danny 1 ; HORWITZ, Spencer 2 ; WISE, Luke 1
SB: BUTLER, Kyle 2 ; HRBEK, Danny 1 ; MIANO, Anthony 1 ; WISE, Luke 1
CS: WHITACRE, Adam 1 ; WISE, Luke 1
PO: WHITACRE, Adam 1
Batting:
2B: Woods, Justin 1
RBI: Woods, Justin 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Carruthers, Kyle 1 ; Woods, Justin 1
HBP: Pagano, Carmine 1
Game Leaders
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AB
4
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1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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