University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
5-13, 0
Longwood
9-11, 0
Bulldogs hit a trio of home runs but fall in the series finale at Longwood
03.20.2022 | Baseball
On Sunday, the three long balls hit by Asheville came from three different players. Michael Groves got things started with a solo home run in the second inning, marking Groves' first career home run. PJ Heintz followed with a two-run blast in the fourth, and Tylan Reece hit his first home run as a Bulldog in the seventh.
It looked like Asheville would be the team to strike first as it worked three walks in the opening half inning. However, Longwood starter Andrew Melnyk worked out of it to keep the game scoreless. The Lancers gave their starter some run support in the bottom of the first, scoring a pair of runs on three hits to go up 2-0.
Asheville, however, promptly answered. Groves launched his first collegiate home run to dead center to cut the deficit in half. After Heintz and Ty Kaufman reached base, Burnett came through with a two-run single to pull the Bulldogs in front, 3-2.
Longwood quickly came back in the bottom of the second. The Lancers scored a pair of unearned runs to regain the lead, and then a two-run home run extended their advantage to 6-3. Lancers tacked on three more runs to grow their lead to six, 9-3.
In the fourth, a two-run blast from Heintz closed the gap to four runs, 9-5. A pitch hit Dylan Bacot to force in a run in the seventh, followed by a bases-loaded walk from Burnett, wrapped up the scoring for the Bulldogs on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the Lancer offense kept the pressure on the Bulldog pitching staff. Longwood scored five runs on three hits in the sixth and two runs on one hit in the seventh to answer the Bulldog scoring and build its lead and finish off the 16-8 victory.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Tuesday when they have a regional rivalry game at Western Carolina. The first pitch for that matchup is set for 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Saale, Dylan (1-0)
L: Allmer, Jay (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Freeberger, Dominic 1
HR: Reece, Tylan 1 ; Groves, Michael 1 ; Heintz, PJ 1
RBI: Burnett, Robbie 3 ; Bacot, Dylan 1 ; Reece, Tylan 1 ; Groves, Michael 1 ; Heintz, PJ 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaufman, Ty 1 ; Reece, Tylan 1 ; Johnson, Cameron 1 ; Groves, Michael 2 ; Heintz, PJ 3
SB: Burnett, Robbie 1
CS: Burnett, Robbie 1
HBP: Bacot, Dylan 1 ; Johnson, Cameron 1 ; Heintz, PJ 1
Batting:
2B: Gilliam, Hun 1 ; Dix, Eliot 1 ; Kowalski, Dr 1
3B: Ryan, Gregor 1 ; Dolberry, Mi 1
HR: Gilliam, Hun 1
RBI: Harris, Hayd 1 ; Wilkinson, D 2 ; Gilliam, Hun 3 ; Schnell, Jac 3 ; Ryan, Gregor 1 ; Dix, Eliot 1 ; Peterson, Mi 1 ; Kowalski, Dr 1 ; Dolberry, Mi 1
SH: Wilkinson, D 1
SF: Peterson, Mi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Harris, Hayd 4 ; Gilliam, Hun 2 ; Schnell, Jac 1 ; Shelton, Keo 1 ; Ryan, Gregor 1 ; Dix, Eliot 2 ; Kowalski, Dr 2 ; Dolberry, Mi 3
SB: Harris, Hayd 1
CS: Wilkinson, D 1 ; Ryan, Gregor 1 ; Peterson, Mi 1
HBP: Harris, Hayd 1 ; Dolberry, Mi 1
