University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, May 8
Asheville, NC
4:00 PM
UNC Asheville
15-26, 0
3
vs
5
Longwood
15-27, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Longwood
0
0
2
0
0
2
1
0
0
5
13
0
UNC Asheville
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
3
6
1
Photo by: Mark Godin
Freeberger and Lankford Homer but Bulldogs Fall to Longwood, 5-3
05.08.2021 | Baseball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Dominic Freeberger and Brandon Lankford both launched home runs, but the UNC Asheville baseball team dropped the finale of its series vs. Longwood Saturday at Greenwood Field by a score, 5-3.
Saturday began well for Asheville as Freeberger connected for his sixth home run of 2021 to give the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead. Longwood, which had been playing from behind most of the series, had several baserunners against Bulldog starter Kole Harris. Harris allowed 10 Lancer hits in six innings of work but did a stellar job of stranding the bulk of those baserunners thanks in part to seven strikeouts.
Despite Harris' efforts, Longwood was able to gain the lead with two runs in the third. Then, the Lancers added some cushion to their lead, scoring two more in the sixth before tallying an insurance run in the seventh.
Longwood starter Andrew Melnyk, meanwhile, gave his team a fantastic start. He worked 7.2 innings allowing two runs on six hits to go with five strikeouts. The two runs Melnyk allowed Saturday were on the home runs by Freeberger in the first and Lankford in the sixth.
Even with Melnyk getting 23 of the 27 outs for the Lancers, the last four proved to be a little harder to get. First, Asheville loaded the bases with one out, thanks to a pair of walks and a hit by pitch. Logan Berrier, who came in after the first two men reached, then walked pinch-hitter Justin Honeycutt to force in a run to shrink the Lancer lead to two at 5-3. Berrier, however, clamped down and struck out Wade Chandler with the tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run at first base to preserve the victory for Longwood.
Freeberger finished the weekend series going 7-for-13 thanks to a 3-for-4 outing Saturday. PJ Heintz also picked up his second straight two-hit performance going 2-for-4 as the team's designated hitter.
With his sixth inning solo home run, Lankford not only moves into sole possession of second place on the Big South's all-time home run list with 51, but he also set a career-high with his 16th home run of the 2021 season. Lankford's 16 home runs are tied for the second-most in a single season by a Bulldog joining Steve Sherman (2004) and former MLB player Ty Wigginton (1998). Only Brian Shehan's 19 home runs in 1989 rank ahead of these marks.
Harris ended up taking the loss in Saturday's contest, evening his record at 2-2. Freshman Brett Johnson gave Asheville some stellar innings out of the bullpen tossing the last three innings, allowing two hits, and striking out five.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Tuesday when they welcome USC Upstate to Greenwood Field. That game is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
Saturday began well for Asheville as Freeberger connected for his sixth home run of 2021 to give the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead. Longwood, which had been playing from behind most of the series, had several baserunners against Bulldog starter Kole Harris. Harris allowed 10 Lancer hits in six innings of work but did a stellar job of stranding the bulk of those baserunners thanks in part to seven strikeouts.
Despite Harris' efforts, Longwood was able to gain the lead with two runs in the third. Then, the Lancers added some cushion to their lead, scoring two more in the sixth before tallying an insurance run in the seventh.
Longwood starter Andrew Melnyk, meanwhile, gave his team a fantastic start. He worked 7.2 innings allowing two runs on six hits to go with five strikeouts. The two runs Melnyk allowed Saturday were on the home runs by Freeberger in the first and Lankford in the sixth.
Even with Melnyk getting 23 of the 27 outs for the Lancers, the last four proved to be a little harder to get. First, Asheville loaded the bases with one out, thanks to a pair of walks and a hit by pitch. Logan Berrier, who came in after the first two men reached, then walked pinch-hitter Justin Honeycutt to force in a run to shrink the Lancer lead to two at 5-3. Berrier, however, clamped down and struck out Wade Chandler with the tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run at first base to preserve the victory for Longwood.
Freeberger finished the weekend series going 7-for-13 thanks to a 3-for-4 outing Saturday. PJ Heintz also picked up his second straight two-hit performance going 2-for-4 as the team's designated hitter.
With his sixth inning solo home run, Lankford not only moves into sole possession of second place on the Big South's all-time home run list with 51, but he also set a career-high with his 16th home run of the 2021 season. Lankford's 16 home runs are tied for the second-most in a single season by a Bulldog joining Steve Sherman (2004) and former MLB player Ty Wigginton (1998). Only Brian Shehan's 19 home runs in 1989 rank ahead of these marks.
Harris ended up taking the loss in Saturday's contest, evening his record at 2-2. Freshman Brett Johnson gave Asheville some stellar innings out of the bullpen tossing the last three innings, allowing two hits, and striking out five.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Tuesday when they welcome USC Upstate to Greenwood Field. That game is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MELNYK, Andrew (2-3)
L: Harris, Kole (2-2)
S: BERRIER, Logan (3)
Batting:
2B: HARRIS, Hayden 1 ; JIMENEZ, Ricky 2
RBI: NELSON, James 3 ; KOWALSKI, Drayven 2
SH: DIX, Eliot 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HARRIS, Hayden 1 ; SCHNELL, Jack 1 ; PETERSON, Michael 1 ; GORHAM, Andrew 1 ; DOLBERRY, Michael 1
CS: DIX, Eliot 1
Batting:
2B: Heintz, PJ 1
HR: Freeberger, Dominic 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 1
RBI: Freeberger, Dominic 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 1 ; Honeycutt, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Freeberger, Dominic 1 ; Lankford, Brandon 1 ; Kaufman, Ty 1
HBP: Dunn, Sebastian 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP/U
/ Baseball
LHP/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
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