University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
7-20
USC Upstate
15-14-1
Three Bulldogs Post Multi-Hit Game in 9-5 Loss at USC Upstate
04.03.2018 | Baseball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Joe Gruszka, Jake Madole and Tyler Serricchio each connected with a pair of hits, but the Bulldogs fell 9-5 to USC Upstate at Harley Park on Tuesday night.
BULLDOG BITES
Highlights
The Bulldogs earned the first run of the game in the top of the second, as Gruszka smoked a triple to right center to start the frame. Madole plated his teammate five pitches into his at-bat, as the redshirt sophomore smoked a single through the left side. Serricchio and Danny Wilson posted back-to-back singles to force the bases loaded, but the trio of Bulldogs were left stranded.
Asheville doubled its lead in the top of the third, as it took advantage of a pair of walks and two stolen bases by Joe Zayatz and Carmine Pagano. With one out, Madole earned a sacrifice fly, which plated Zayatz easily from third base.
Down 2-0, USC Upstate cut the deficit in half, as it plated Russel Schwertfeger following his leadoff triple in the home half of the fourth inning.
After a scoreless top of the fifth inning, the Spartans earned their first lead of the mid-week game, 5-2, as it tallied four runs off four hits.
The Bulldogs quickly retaliated in the next inning, as it pulled the deficit to one run. Gruszka started the inning with a ground-rule double, and Madole put runners at the corners with his single to third base. Brandon Lankford drew a seven-pitch walk to force the bases loaded, and on the next batter, Serricchio scored Gruszka from third via a sacrifice fly. In the next at-bat, Wilson earned the second sacrifice fly of the inning, which plated Madole and made the deficit 5-4.
In the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs knotted the game at 5-5. Zayatz recorded his first hit of the game, which was a RBI double to left center.
The Spartans regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh, as they plated four unearned runs to take the 9-5 lead.
Asheville threatened to plate runs in the bottom eighth, but it left a pair of Bulldogs on base.
The Bulldogs had one more crack to tie the game, but they were held off the scoreboard in the final inning, which gave the Spartans the four-run victory.
Gruszka, Madole and Serricchio each tallied a pair of hits, while Madole collected a pair of RBIs. Serricchio, Wilson and Zayatz each earned a RBI in the mid-week game. Gruszka had a team-high two runs scored, and Kole Harris, Zayatz and Madole each touched home once. Gruszka connected with two extra-base hits, while Zayatz earned the third extra-base hit for the Bulldogs.
Beau Nichols started the game for Asheville, and the freshman twirled four innings. Despite walking five batters, he limited the Spartans to one run off two hits. Ethan Tressler also had a scoreless outing, as the freshman worked an inning of relief. Trey Jernigan finished the game for Asheville, as he struck out one batter and fended the Spartans off the scoreboard in the eighth frame.
UNC Asheville drops to 7-20 overall, and USC Upstate moves to 15-14-1 on the year.
What's Next?
The Bulldogs return to the diamond on Wednesday, April 4, as they square off with Western Carolina at McCormick Field for the annual Vs. Cancer game. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.
The annual game at McCormick Field will be televised locally on WLOS, WMYA-TV, My 40. The game can also be found on the Big South Network, and the live stream can be found by clicking HERE. Live stats versus WCU is also available and can be found by clicking HERE.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: HOPPOCK, Grant (3-1)
L: Brown, Blake (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Zayatz, Joe 1 ; Gruszka, Joe 1
3B: Gruszka, Joe 1
RBI: Zayatz, Joe 1 ; Madole, Jake 2 ; Serricchio, Tyler 1 ; Wilson, Danny 1
SF: Madole, Jake 1 ; Serricchio, Tyler 1 ; Wilson, Danny 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Harris, Kole 1 ; Zayatz, Joe 1 ; Gruszka, Joe 2 ; Madole, Jake 1
SB: Zayatz, Joe 1 ; Gruszka, Joe 2
HBP: Harris, Kole 1
Batting:
2B: SHAHIDI, Toran 1
3B: RAIFF, Pat 1 ; SCHWERTFEGER, Russel 1
RBI: RAIFF, Pat 2 ; GENSLER, Kyle 3 ; SCHWERTFEGER, Russel 1 ; KIM, Andres 2
SH: SHAHIDI, Toran 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SHAHIDI, Toran 2 ; RAIFF, Pat 2 ; CARPENTER, Charlie 1 ; SCHWERTFEGER, Russel 2 ; KIM, Andres 1 ; RODRIGUEZ, Chris 1
SB: STEWART, Mason 1
