University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, February 22
Birmingham, AL
2 PM
UNC Asheville
2-4
7
at
4
UAB
1-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UNC Asheville
0
0
0
0
2
3
1
1
0
7
14
1
UAB
0
1
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
4
7
1
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Gasparro’s Four RBIs Propel Bulldogs Past Blazers
02.22.2020 | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – UNC Asheville baseball won their second straight game as they defeated UAB by a score of 7-4 in game two of their three-game set.
Senior centerfielder Greg Gasparro led the Bulldogs with four RBIs in the victory. The Bulldog lead-off hitter had three hits and two doubles in the victory. Junior Easton Jones recorded the first four-hit game of his UNC Asheville career as the Bulldog offense totaled 14 hits in the victory.
Senior Blake Brown started on the mound for the Bulldogs as he threw 3.2 innings of three hit, three run ball. The right-handed pitcher punched out five batters and walked four. Freshman Gino Marra earned the win for UNC Asheville as he threw 4.1 innings of one run ball out of the bullpen. Marra allowed three hits and sent down four Blazer batters on strikes.
Both teams went three up and three down in the first inning as the Bulldogs and the Blazers each got their first hit of the game in the second inning. Brandon Lankford led off with a single for the Bulldogs in the top of the second but he couldn't advance as Blazer pitcher Tanner Rusk sent down the next three Bulldogs in order.
UNC Asheville scored their first runs of the game in the fifth inning as Grayson Preslar and MJ Lucas worked back to back walks to put Bulldogs on first and second. Gasparro pushed the first Bulldog run across the plate with a double to left field. Sebastian Dunn then pushed run number two across with a sacrifice fly.
The Bulldogs were down 3-2 going into the top of the sixth. Jones led off with a single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. UAB looked like they were going to strand Jones there as Rusk sent down the next two batters. Preslar and Lucas both walked once again bringing Gasparro back to bat with the bases loaded. Gasparro launched a 3-2 pitch into the left-center field gap for a bases-clearing double that put the Bulldogs ahead 5-3.
UNC Asheville added another run to the scoreboard in the seventh as Jones and Chris Troost hit back to back one out singles to put two Bulldogs on. After a fly out by Will Barbour, Preslar came back to the plate and singled through the right side to score Jones to put the Bulldogs ahead 6-3.
After the Blazers scored one to bring the score to 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the Bulldogs added another to extend the lead back to three in the top of the eighth. Gasparro singled to lead-off the inning and then got into scoring position with a steal of second base. Gasparro touched home to put the Bulldogs ahead 7-4 on a single from clean-up hitter Brandon Lankford.
On the mound, Brown allowed one run in the second inning on a solo home run. The right-handed pitcher worked around two walks in the third with a pair of strikeouts and fly out to keep the score at 1-0.
UAB pushed two more runs across in the bottom of the fourth as Brown allowed two hits, two walks and a hit by pitch. UAB loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth and UNC Asheville head coach Scott Friedholm opted to go to his bullpen as he went with the freshman Marra. Marra faced one batter in the fourth and sent him down on strikes to strand the bases loaded.
Marra went on to earn his first career victory for the Bulldogs as the left-hander solidified the win for UNC Asheville by throwing 4.1 innings out of the bullpen and allowing only one run in the seventh inning.
Marra gave way in the ninth to the Bulldogs all-time saves leader, Kole Harris. Harris allowed one base runner but shut the door on the Blazers as he struck out two and notched his first save of the season.
The Bulldogs have won the first two games of the series versus UAB and will go for the series sweep tomorrow at 2 p.m. Ryan Douglas will take the hill for UNC Asheville as he is scheduled to make his second career collegiate start.
Senior centerfielder Greg Gasparro led the Bulldogs with four RBIs in the victory. The Bulldog lead-off hitter had three hits and two doubles in the victory. Junior Easton Jones recorded the first four-hit game of his UNC Asheville career as the Bulldog offense totaled 14 hits in the victory.
Senior Blake Brown started on the mound for the Bulldogs as he threw 3.2 innings of three hit, three run ball. The right-handed pitcher punched out five batters and walked four. Freshman Gino Marra earned the win for UNC Asheville as he threw 4.1 innings of one run ball out of the bullpen. Marra allowed three hits and sent down four Blazer batters on strikes.
Both teams went three up and three down in the first inning as the Bulldogs and the Blazers each got their first hit of the game in the second inning. Brandon Lankford led off with a single for the Bulldogs in the top of the second but he couldn't advance as Blazer pitcher Tanner Rusk sent down the next three Bulldogs in order.
UNC Asheville scored their first runs of the game in the fifth inning as Grayson Preslar and MJ Lucas worked back to back walks to put Bulldogs on first and second. Gasparro pushed the first Bulldog run across the plate with a double to left field. Sebastian Dunn then pushed run number two across with a sacrifice fly.
The Bulldogs were down 3-2 going into the top of the sixth. Jones led off with a single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. UAB looked like they were going to strand Jones there as Rusk sent down the next two batters. Preslar and Lucas both walked once again bringing Gasparro back to bat with the bases loaded. Gasparro launched a 3-2 pitch into the left-center field gap for a bases-clearing double that put the Bulldogs ahead 5-3.
UNC Asheville added another run to the scoreboard in the seventh as Jones and Chris Troost hit back to back one out singles to put two Bulldogs on. After a fly out by Will Barbour, Preslar came back to the plate and singled through the right side to score Jones to put the Bulldogs ahead 6-3.
After the Blazers scored one to bring the score to 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the Bulldogs added another to extend the lead back to three in the top of the eighth. Gasparro singled to lead-off the inning and then got into scoring position with a steal of second base. Gasparro touched home to put the Bulldogs ahead 7-4 on a single from clean-up hitter Brandon Lankford.
On the mound, Brown allowed one run in the second inning on a solo home run. The right-handed pitcher worked around two walks in the third with a pair of strikeouts and fly out to keep the score at 1-0.
UAB pushed two more runs across in the bottom of the fourth as Brown allowed two hits, two walks and a hit by pitch. UAB loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth and UNC Asheville head coach Scott Friedholm opted to go to his bullpen as he went with the freshman Marra. Marra faced one batter in the fourth and sent him down on strikes to strand the bases loaded.
Marra went on to earn his first career victory for the Bulldogs as the left-hander solidified the win for UNC Asheville by throwing 4.1 innings out of the bullpen and allowing only one run in the seventh inning.
Marra gave way in the ninth to the Bulldogs all-time saves leader, Kole Harris. Harris allowed one base runner but shut the door on the Blazers as he struck out two and notched his first save of the season.
The Bulldogs have won the first two games of the series versus UAB and will go for the series sweep tomorrow at 2 p.m. Ryan Douglas will take the hill for UNC Asheville as he is scheduled to make his second career collegiate start.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Marra, Gino (1-0)
L: Brady Greene (0-1)
S: Harris, Kole (1)
Batting:
2B: Gasparro, Greg 2 ; Preslar, Grayson 1
RBI: Gasparro, Greg 4 ; Dunn, Sebastian 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 1 ; Preslar, Grayson 1
SF: Dunn, Sebastian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gasparro, Greg 1 ; Jones, Easton 2 ; Preslar, Grayson 2 ; Lucas, MJ 2
SB: Gasparro, Greg 1
CS: Jones, Easton 1
Batting:
HR: J Paul Fullerton 1
RBI: J Paul Fullerton 2 ; Justin Wiley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pate Fullerton 1 ; J Paul Fullerton 2 ; Ian Ladner 1
SB: Justin Wiley 2
HBP: Caleb Floyd 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
4
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
Right-Handed Pitcher
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballLeft-Handed Pitcher/Outfielder
/ Baseball
Utility/Right-Handed Pitcher
/ Baseball1B/OF
/ BaseballInfielder
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
Infielder
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