University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
4-13, 0
Radford
11-8, 0
Lankford’s walk-off salvages split for Asheville against Radford Friday
03.26.2021 | Baseball
Senior goes 4-for-5 with two RBI in win
ASHEVILLE N.C. – After dropping an 11-6 slugfest in game one against Radford, Brandon Lankford smashed a solo shot to left field to lift the UNC Asheville baseball team to a 6-5 walk-off win over the Highlanders in game two of Friday's doubleheader at Greenwood field.
Tanner Barrs lifted Radford to the win in game one, smashing a grand slam and accounting for six RBI, with Bruce Hudson picking up the win in relief. In the second game it was the Kevin Catrine and Lankford show, each collecting two RBIs with Lankford going 4-for-5 with three runs scored including the emphatic game-ender with Chris Banks picking up the win.
Asheville now moves to 5-13 overall and is 4-9 in Big South play while Radford drops to 11-9 and 6-5 in the conference. Asheville and Radford will close out the series on Saturday, with first pitch currently scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Stay tuned to uncabulldogs.com and Asheville Athletics social media for the latest news and weather-related updates.
Game One
With two outs in the second, Radford rallied and drove in three runs before the Bulldogs could register the third out. In the third, history repeated itself as the Highlanders tacked on a fourth run and loaded the bases for Tanner Barrs who smacked a grand slam to make the lead 8-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Bulldogs would get on the board when MJ Lucas and Ty Kaufman singled in a pair of runs followed by a Lankford hit by pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the third run before Radford got out of the jam. In the bottom of the sixth, Grayson Preslar smacked the first pitch he saw over the left field wall to make it a four-run game. Lankford singled a run in and an error brought home Dominic Freeburger to make the score 8-6. In the eighth, the Highlanders were able to manufacture an insurance run in the eighth and two more in the ninth, with Bruce Hudson, who threw four scoreless innings in relief to lift Radford to victory.
Game Two
After a scoreless two innings, Kaufman singled and Freeberger was hit by a pitch, setting up and RBI single to left field by Lankford. Radford answered in the top of the fourth when Connor Bagnieski reached base via error, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and would cross home plate after an Anthony Galati sacrifice fly. Kevin Catrine led off the bottom of the fifth with a double to left, advancing to third on a wild pitch and scoring on a fielder's choice to make the score 2-1.
In the top of the sixth, Radford loaded the bases with no outs but Edwards and the Bulldog defense escaped with just one run allowed. Feeling the momentum from getting out of the jam, the Bulldogs loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning and brought two home on an RBI single to Catrine. With two outs in the seventh, Lankford reached on an error and would later score on a Michael Groves single to right in which he smartly took home on a throw to second. Radford didn't go down easily, however, working the bases loaded setting up a Straton Podaras three-run double to tie and extend the game to the bottom half of the ninth.
Freeberger opened up the inning with a flyout to center, bringing Lankford to the plate. The senior from Mocksville, North Carolina, worked the count to 3-1, launching the ensuing pitch over the left field wall (fourth homer of the season) to give Asheville the 6-5 win.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Banks, Chris (1-0)
L: BURTON, Ty (0-1)
Batting:
2B: PODARAS, Straton 1
RBI: PODARAS, Straton 3 ; GALATI, Anthony 1 ; BRYANT, David 1
SF: GALATI, Anthony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: CHEELY, Sean 1 ; BAGNIESKI, Connor 2 ; BUSTER, Jalen 1 ; BARRS, Tanner 1
SB: BAGNIESKI, Connor 1
CS: BRYANT, David 1
HBP: MATHENY, Garrett 1
PO: MATHENY, Garrett 1
Batting:
2B: Catrine, Kevin 1
HR: Lankford, Brandon 1
RBI: Kaufman, Ty 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 2 ; Groves, Michael 1 ; Catrine, Kevin 2
SH: Dunn, Sebastian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaufman, Ty 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 3 ; Groves, Michael 1 ; Catrine, Kevin 1
HBP: Freeberger, Dominic 1 ; Troost, Chris 1
