University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Friday, March 12
Charleston, SC
6:00 PM
UNC Asheville
2-7, 1-3
15
at
3
Charleston Southern
2-5, 2-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
R
H
E
UNC Asheville
0
5
1
0
8
1
0
0
0
0
15
10
1
Charleston So.
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
X
3
8
2
Photo by: Mark Godin
Bulldogs Cruise Past Charleston Southern for first Big South win, 15-3
03.12.2021 | Baseball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team cruised past Charleston Southern by a score of 15-3 to earn its first Big South victory of the season Friday evening. The 15 runs scored by Asheville are not only a season-high, but it is also the most runs scored in a game by the Bulldogs since February 23, 2019, when they scored 17 runs against UMBC. Additionally, Friday's run total is the most in a Big South game since Asheville scored 20 in a 2018 game against Campbell.
Asheville's offensive explosion was felt up-and-down the order as nine different Bulldogs scored at least one run in Friday's victory. Brandon Lankford provided the hit that broke the game open with a grand slam in the fifth. It marked the third straight game Lankford has homered as he continues to chase the Bulldog all-time home run record. Ty Kaufman and Sebastian Dunn also provided key hits to fuel the offense driving in three and two runs, respectively. Asheville also got some solid production from the bottom of the order as PJ Heintz (2-for-5, two runs scored) and Cam Johnson (2-for-2, reached base five times) each recorded multi-hit days.
As well as the offense performed, the pitching staff also put together its best effort of the spring. Justin Honeycutt picked up his first collegiate win after tossing 4.1 scoreless innings in relief of starter Brett Johnson. Johnson worked a career-high 2.2 innings to begin the game, while Zeus Ponder and Blake Little finished the game out, pitching the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits between them.
The Bulldogs would score first on Friday, which continues a trend for Asheville as it has now scored first in eight of its nine games this season. Asheville did not score just once, though, as it scored five runs off Charleston Southern starter RJ Petit, who pitched a complete-game shutout his last time out vs. Longwood, in the second inning. Cam Johnson would add another run to Asheville's lead in the third with an RBI single grow the advantage to 6-0.
Charleston Southern chipped into the Bulldog lead a bit in the third. CSU was able to load the bases against Bulldog starter Brett Johnson and notched back-to-back infield singles to score a pair of runs and keep the bases full. However, a pivotal call to the bullpen was made for Honeycutt, and the freshman lefthander was able to induce a flyout to get the Bulldogs out of the jam.
After Honeycutt threw a scoreless fourth, the Bulldog offense blew the game open in the fifth. The Bulldogs would send 13 hitters to the plate in the inning. Grayson Preslar drew a bases-loaded walk to begin the scoring. Preslar's walk was followed by a two-run single from Kaufman, a Buccaneer error that scored one and then the grand slam from Lankford put the game out of reach.
Asheville and Charleston Southern will meet again on Saturday as the two teams will play a doubleheader. The twin bill's first pitch is set for 1 p.m., and both games will air on ESPN+.
Asheville's offensive explosion was felt up-and-down the order as nine different Bulldogs scored at least one run in Friday's victory. Brandon Lankford provided the hit that broke the game open with a grand slam in the fifth. It marked the third straight game Lankford has homered as he continues to chase the Bulldog all-time home run record. Ty Kaufman and Sebastian Dunn also provided key hits to fuel the offense driving in three and two runs, respectively. Asheville also got some solid production from the bottom of the order as PJ Heintz (2-for-5, two runs scored) and Cam Johnson (2-for-2, reached base five times) each recorded multi-hit days.
As well as the offense performed, the pitching staff also put together its best effort of the spring. Justin Honeycutt picked up his first collegiate win after tossing 4.1 scoreless innings in relief of starter Brett Johnson. Johnson worked a career-high 2.2 innings to begin the game, while Zeus Ponder and Blake Little finished the game out, pitching the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits between them.
The Bulldogs would score first on Friday, which continues a trend for Asheville as it has now scored first in eight of its nine games this season. Asheville did not score just once, though, as it scored five runs off Charleston Southern starter RJ Petit, who pitched a complete-game shutout his last time out vs. Longwood, in the second inning. Cam Johnson would add another run to Asheville's lead in the third with an RBI single grow the advantage to 6-0.
Charleston Southern chipped into the Bulldog lead a bit in the third. CSU was able to load the bases against Bulldog starter Brett Johnson and notched back-to-back infield singles to score a pair of runs and keep the bases full. However, a pivotal call to the bullpen was made for Honeycutt, and the freshman lefthander was able to induce a flyout to get the Bulldogs out of the jam.
After Honeycutt threw a scoreless fourth, the Bulldog offense blew the game open in the fifth. The Bulldogs would send 13 hitters to the plate in the inning. Grayson Preslar drew a bases-loaded walk to begin the scoring. Preslar's walk was followed by a two-run single from Kaufman, a Buccaneer error that scored one and then the grand slam from Lankford put the game out of reach.
Asheville and Charleston Southern will meet again on Saturday as the two teams will play a doubleheader. The twin bill's first pitch is set for 1 p.m., and both games will air on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Honeycutt, Justin (1-0)
L: PETIT, RJ (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Heintz, PJ 1 ; Preslar, Grayson 1
HR: Lankford, Brandon 1
RBI: Kaufman, Ty 3 ; Dunn, Sebastian 2 ; Lankford, Brandon 4 ; Johnson, Cameron 1
SH: Troost, Chris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaufman, Ty 2 ; Freeberger, Dominic 1 ; Dunn, Sebastian 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 2 ; Groves, Michael 2 ; Troost, Chris 1 ; Heintz, PJ 2 ; Johnson, Cameron 3 ; Preslar, Grayson 1
HBP: Lankford, Brandon 1 ; Troost, Chris 1 ; Johnson, Cameron 1
Batting:
2B: HORTON, Derek 1 ; PARKER, Houston 1
RBI: OLIVEIRA, Johnny 1 ; PARKER, Houston 2
SF: PARKER, Houston 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SANDSTROM, Kyle 1 ; HARDWICK, Reid 1 ; ALDRICH, Connor 1
Game Leaders
1b/3b
AB
2
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
lf/rf
AB
5
R
2
H
1
RBI
3
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
LHP/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
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