University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Tuesday, February 23
Cullowhee, NC
4 PM
UNC Asheville
1-0
10
at
4
Western Carolina
4-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UNC Asheville
4
1
3
0
1
1
0
0
0
10
14
0
Western Carolina
1
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
6
2
Photo by: Mark Godin
Baseball Downs Western Carolina in Season Opener, 10-4
02.23.2021 | Baseball
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team began its 2021 season with a 10-4 victory at Western Carolina Tuesday afternoon. It marks the first 1-0 start for the Bulldogs since 2014.
The Bulldogs started Tuesday's game ready to hit. Asheville jumped on WCU for four runs in the first and added another in the second. However, Western Carolina began a comeback attempt in the following half-inning slugging back-to-back solo home runs to cut the Bulldog lead down to 5-3. Following the pair of home runs and three more runners reached, reliever JP Perez was called upon to get the Bulldogs out of a bases-loaded jam with one out. Perez did just that, forcing a pair of ground outs to help his squad maintain its lead, 5-4.
Asheville came back in the third and promptly grew its lead back to four with three more runs. The big hit was a two-run single by Drew Bristow and Kohl Abrams knocked in the other run with an RBI groundout. The Bulldog offense slowed up a bit after the third, but Asheville was able to add insurance runs in the fifth and sixth to pad its lead.
With a four-run lead to work with, Perez tossed a scoreless third. Perez started a string of seven consecutive scoreless innings by the Bulldog bullpen. Freshmen Justin Honeycutt and Caleb Cross each threw a pair of scoreless frames before Ethan Tressler and Kole Harris put up zeros in the eighth and ninth to finish the victory.
There was no shortage of stellar offensive numbers for Asheville Tuesday. Seven of the nine Bulldogs that started the game picked up at least one hit, and eight of the nine reached base at least once. Asheville got great production out of the bottom of the order as the trio of seventh, eighth, and ninth-place hitters combined to go 7-for-12 with four RBI, four runs scored, and two walks.
Bristow finished with a 3-for-5 day at the plate with two RBI, while the tandem of Easton Jones and Ty Kaufman both went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Additionally, Jones picked up a triple, and Kaufman notched a pair of doubles in his collegiate debut to account for all the team's extra-base hits on the day.
Junior lefthander Jacob Edwards, who started on the mound for Asheville, notched the win to pick up his fifth collegiate victory. Overall, the Bulldog pitching staff did a great job holding a Catamount offense that pounded out 47 hits and scored 47 runs in a four-game sweep of Towson over the weekend to just four runs and six hits.
Asheville will return to action this weekend as it makes the short trip to Johnson City, Tennessee, to take on East Tennessee State in a three-game series. The Bulldogs and Buccaneers will play once Friday at 3 p.m. before playing a doubleheader on Saturday that is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
The Bulldogs started Tuesday's game ready to hit. Asheville jumped on WCU for four runs in the first and added another in the second. However, Western Carolina began a comeback attempt in the following half-inning slugging back-to-back solo home runs to cut the Bulldog lead down to 5-3. Following the pair of home runs and three more runners reached, reliever JP Perez was called upon to get the Bulldogs out of a bases-loaded jam with one out. Perez did just that, forcing a pair of ground outs to help his squad maintain its lead, 5-4.
Asheville came back in the third and promptly grew its lead back to four with three more runs. The big hit was a two-run single by Drew Bristow and Kohl Abrams knocked in the other run with an RBI groundout. The Bulldog offense slowed up a bit after the third, but Asheville was able to add insurance runs in the fifth and sixth to pad its lead.
With a four-run lead to work with, Perez tossed a scoreless third. Perez started a string of seven consecutive scoreless innings by the Bulldog bullpen. Freshmen Justin Honeycutt and Caleb Cross each threw a pair of scoreless frames before Ethan Tressler and Kole Harris put up zeros in the eighth and ninth to finish the victory.
There was no shortage of stellar offensive numbers for Asheville Tuesday. Seven of the nine Bulldogs that started the game picked up at least one hit, and eight of the nine reached base at least once. Asheville got great production out of the bottom of the order as the trio of seventh, eighth, and ninth-place hitters combined to go 7-for-12 with four RBI, four runs scored, and two walks.
Bristow finished with a 3-for-5 day at the plate with two RBI, while the tandem of Easton Jones and Ty Kaufman both went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Additionally, Jones picked up a triple, and Kaufman notched a pair of doubles in his collegiate debut to account for all the team's extra-base hits on the day.
Junior lefthander Jacob Edwards, who started on the mound for Asheville, notched the win to pick up his fifth collegiate victory. Overall, the Bulldog pitching staff did a great job holding a Catamount offense that pounded out 47 hits and scored 47 runs in a four-game sweep of Towson over the weekend to just four runs and six hits.
Asheville will return to action this weekend as it makes the short trip to Johnson City, Tennessee, to take on East Tennessee State in a three-game series. The Bulldogs and Buccaneers will play once Friday at 3 p.m. before playing a doubleheader on Saturday that is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Edwards, Jacob (1-0)
L: Dawson Elder (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Kaufman, Ty 2
3B: Jones, Easton 1
RBI: Abrams, Kohl 1 ; Dunn, Sebastian 2 ; Jones, Easton 1 ; Heintz, PJ 2 ; Bristow , Drew 2
SH: Kaufman, Ty 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dunn, Sebastian 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 1 ; Jones, Easton 2 ; Troost, Chris 2 ; Heintz, PJ 1 ; Bristow , Drew 1 ; Kaufman, Ty 2
SB: Lankford, Brandon 1
HBP: Lankford, Brandon 1
Batting:
2B: Pascanel Ferreras 1
HR: Bryson Parks 1 ; Tom Brosnahan 1
RBI: Justice Bigbie 2 ; Bryson Parks 1 ; Tom Brosnahan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Zach Ketterman 1 ; Pascanel Ferreras 1 ; Bryson Parks 1 ; Tom Brosnahan 1
SB: Daylan Nanny 1
HBP: Pascanel Ferreras 1 ; Daylan Nanny 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP/U
/ Baseball
LHP/OF
/ Baseball1B
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
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