University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, March 6
High Point, NC
1 p.m.
UNC Asheville
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High Point
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UNC Asheville
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High Point
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Photo by: Dakota Hamilton
High Point Downs Asheville Twice to Open Big South Play
03.06.2021 | Baseball
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team fell twice Saturday as it took on High Point in its first Big South games of the 2021 season. High Point won game one, 8-2, before taking the second contest as well, 12-6.
Game One Recap – The first game of the day began well for Asheville as it scored first for the sixth consecutive game thanks to a squeeze bunt from Sebastian Dunn, scoring Ty Kaufman. The Bulldogs continued to lead 1-0 through the third inning. Following that point, High Point's offense began to put some things together as it scored in every inning after that. HPU's pitching staff held the Bulldog offense quiet for the rest of the contest except for a single run in the eighth. With these two factors working together, the Panthers took game one, 8-2.
Asheville totaled nine hits in game one, with Kaufman and Chris Troost each posting two-hit outings. Dominic Freeberger, Brandon Lankford, MJ Lucas, Drew Bristow, and Michael Groves also got into the hit column. For Groves, he drove in Asheville's second run in the eighth with a pinch-hit single in his first collegiate at-bat.
Jacob Edwards started game one for Asheville and turned in his best start of 2021. Edwards worked the first five innings, allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits to go with two strikeouts. Despite this effort, Edwards saw his record dip to 1-2 on the season.
Game Two Recap – Like it has in every game this season, Asheville scored first in game two. PJ Heintz drove in two teammates with a double to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. High Point would quickly answer in the bottom half of the inning, scoring four times. The Panthers would add one in the second, two in the fourth, three in the fifth, and two in the sixth off the Asheville pitching staff to grow its lead to as many as nine. Asheville scored three times in the final two innings, but it proved too little too late as the Panthers held on for the 12-6 victory.
Offensively, Asheville matched its hit total from game one with nine. Lankford and Dunn posted two-hit performances, with Lankford connecting on his first home run in 2021 with a solo shot in the sixth. The Bulldogs also received base hits from Kaufman, Groves, Grayson Preslar, Fermin Osio. An interesting stat in game two was Asheville sent four pinch-hitters to the plate, and each of them reached base at least once. Preslar drove in two runs in the ninth, while Kevin Catrine reached base twice and scored a run to highlight the Bulldog bench players' performances.
Freshman Brett Johnson made his second start of the season on the mound for Asheville in game two. Johnson allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits in 1.1 innings of work. Following Johnson, Ethan Tressler, Ryan Stalker, Gino Marra, and Chris Banks also pitched for the Bulldogs in relief. Only Banks logged a scoreless outing as he set the Panthers down one, two, three in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts.
Next Up – Asheville and High Point will match up again Sunday in the series finale. Sunday's game, which is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., can be watched on ESPN+.
Game One Recap – The first game of the day began well for Asheville as it scored first for the sixth consecutive game thanks to a squeeze bunt from Sebastian Dunn, scoring Ty Kaufman. The Bulldogs continued to lead 1-0 through the third inning. Following that point, High Point's offense began to put some things together as it scored in every inning after that. HPU's pitching staff held the Bulldog offense quiet for the rest of the contest except for a single run in the eighth. With these two factors working together, the Panthers took game one, 8-2.
Asheville totaled nine hits in game one, with Kaufman and Chris Troost each posting two-hit outings. Dominic Freeberger, Brandon Lankford, MJ Lucas, Drew Bristow, and Michael Groves also got into the hit column. For Groves, he drove in Asheville's second run in the eighth with a pinch-hit single in his first collegiate at-bat.
Jacob Edwards started game one for Asheville and turned in his best start of 2021. Edwards worked the first five innings, allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits to go with two strikeouts. Despite this effort, Edwards saw his record dip to 1-2 on the season.
Game Two Recap – Like it has in every game this season, Asheville scored first in game two. PJ Heintz drove in two teammates with a double to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. High Point would quickly answer in the bottom half of the inning, scoring four times. The Panthers would add one in the second, two in the fourth, three in the fifth, and two in the sixth off the Asheville pitching staff to grow its lead to as many as nine. Asheville scored three times in the final two innings, but it proved too little too late as the Panthers held on for the 12-6 victory.
Offensively, Asheville matched its hit total from game one with nine. Lankford and Dunn posted two-hit performances, with Lankford connecting on his first home run in 2021 with a solo shot in the sixth. The Bulldogs also received base hits from Kaufman, Groves, Grayson Preslar, Fermin Osio. An interesting stat in game two was Asheville sent four pinch-hitters to the plate, and each of them reached base at least once. Preslar drove in two runs in the ninth, while Kevin Catrine reached base twice and scored a run to highlight the Bulldog bench players' performances.
Freshman Brett Johnson made his second start of the season on the mound for Asheville in game two. Johnson allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits in 1.1 innings of work. Following Johnson, Ethan Tressler, Ryan Stalker, Gino Marra, and Chris Banks also pitched for the Bulldogs in relief. Only Banks logged a scoreless outing as he set the Panthers down one, two, three in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts.
Next Up – Asheville and High Point will match up again Sunday in the series finale. Sunday's game, which is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., can be watched on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: LYTTLE, Grey (1-2)
L: Edwards, Jacob (1-1)
S: SHEPPARD, Carter (1)
Batting:
RBI: Dunn, Sebastian 1 ; Groves, Michael 1
SH: Dunn, Sebastian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaufman, Ty 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 1
SB: Troost, Chris 1
Batting:
HR: PEARRE, Brady 2 ; JOHNSON, Joe 1 ; CARR, Peyton 1
RBI: PEARRE, Brady 3 ; JOHNSON, Joe 1 ; CARR, Peyton 2 ; SINGSANK, Cole 1 ; STUART, Adam 1
SF: STUART, Adam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: PEARRE, Brady 2 ; JOHNSON, Joe 1 ; IRVINE, Cameron 1 ; CARR, Peyton 2 ; SUTTON, Blake 1 ; ZAYICEK, Sam 1
SB: ZAYICEK, Sam 1
CS: SINGSANK, Cole 1
HBP: CARR, Peyton 1
Game Leaders
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RBI
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AB
4
R
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H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
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