Baseball Travels to USC Upstate Wednesday

**Game Postponed to Wednesday March 17 at Noon**

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team will return to action on Wednesday as it makes the short trip to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on USC Upstate in a Big South mid-week matchup. The first pitch between the Bulldogs and Spartans is scheduled for 12 p.m. on ESPN+.

Probable Pitching Matchup – RHP Kole Harris (AVL) vs. RHP Trey Miller (Upstate)

Last Time Out – The Bulldogs played a three-game series at Charleston Southern last weekend. Asheville won the first game, 15-3, but the Buccaneers took the next two by scores of 15-5 and 9-1.

Fine Weekend by a Freshman – Freshman Cam Johnson provided a definite lift for Asheville in the three games at Charleston Southern. Johnson, who started all three games at first base, finished the three-game set hitting .500 in eight at-bats with five runs scored and one RBI. The Fuquay Varina, N.C. native, posted a .636 on-base percentage in the series and swiped his first collegiate base. Johnson was also stellar in the field, posting a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.

Win #1 out of the way – Another freshman Justin Honeycutt played a significant part in Asheville's 15-3 win at Charleston Southern on Friday. The lefthander tossed 4.1 scoreless innings against the Buccaneers to allow the Bulldogs to grow their lead and eventually win their first Big South game of the season. Honeycutt, who recorded his first collegiate win for his efforts, allowed just two baserunners during his outing and held CSU hitters to a .077 batting average. Furthermore, Honeycutt also came on as a pinch-hitter in game two of the series and picked up his first collegiate hit.

Record Watch – During the 15-3 win on Friday, senior Brandon Lankford connected on a grand slam to blow the game open. It was Lankford's third home run of the season, which ranks third among Big South sluggers. With the long ball, Lankford needs just five more to become the program's all-time home run leader breaking the current record of 42 by Brian Shehan.

Quick Lookahead – Following Tuesday's game at USC Upstate, the Bulldogs will return home to Greenwood Field for a 10-game homestand. Asheville, who has played just once at home through the season's first month, will host Campbell (March 19-20), Gardner-Webb (March 23), Radford (March 26-27), and Presbyterian (April 1-2) during its first extended run of games at home since 2019.

About USC Upstate – The Spartans are off to a great start to their 2021 season sporting an 11-2 record, including a 12-2 victory over Clemson. However, USC Upstate dropped two of three games in a series against Campbell last weekend. Upstate is a balanced team as it currently leads the Big South in team batting average (.301), team ERA (2.88), and team fielding percentage (.985).

Series Rewind vs. USC Upstate – Asheville and Upstate have matched up 16 times since 2010, with the latter winning 10 of those contests. However, in the lone series between these two programs since the Spartans joined the Big South went in favor of the Bulldogs. Asheville took two of three games in that series in mid-March 2019 at Greenwood Field.

Baseball Travels to USC Upstate Wednesday

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Players Mentioned

Kole Harris

Justin Honeycutt

Cameron Johnson

Brandon Lankford

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics