University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Tuesday, March 22
Cullowhee, NC
5 p.m.
UNC Asheville
6-13
5
at
1
Western Carolina
10-11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UNC Asheville
1
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
5
8
1
Western Carolina
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
6
1
Pitching and Defense powers Asheville to a 5-1 win over Western Carolina
03.22.2022 | Baseball
CULLOWHEE, N.C. The UNC Asheville baseball team used stellar pitching and highlight-level plays in the field to upend rival Western Carolina by a score of 5-1 on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs have now won eight of the last nine games against WCU and improved to 6-13 on the 2022 season with the win.
The Bulldog pitching staff stepped up in a significant way on Tuesday. Facing a Catamount offense that was averaging more than eight runs per game, Asheville held WCU to just one run in the win. Jacob Edwards started the contest and tossed 4.1 shutout innings with six strikeouts. After Edwards left the game, relievers Dawson Salter, Zeus Ponder, Bryce Fisher, and Dominic Freeberger combined to throw the final 5.2 innings allowing just one run to the hot-hitting Catamounts. Ponder got credit as the winning pitcher after tossing 2.2 scoreless frames marking his first collegiate win.
Another crucial part of Asheville's win Tuesday was its work defensively. As a team, the Bulldogs turned three double plays in the contest, which included a key 1-2-3 double play started by Ponder to get the Bulldogs out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth. Perhaps the defensive highlight of the night, however, came in the third inning, where Freeberger robbed a home run to preserve Asheville's 1-0 lead.
Offensively, the Bulldogs scored their five runs thanks to contributions from several different players. Leadoff man Ty Kaufman did a stellar job getting on base at the top of the order as he went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. Robbie Burnett also had a two-hit night going 2-for-5, while the tandem of Michael Groves (two-run double) and Corbin Lanowitz (sacrifice fly, RBI single) came through with some vital run-producing at-bats to fuel the victory.
Asheville will be back in action this weekend when it returns home to Greenwood Field to play host to Charleston Southern for a three-game Big South series. The series begins Friday evening, and the first pitch for that matchup is set for 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
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The Bulldog pitching staff stepped up in a significant way on Tuesday. Facing a Catamount offense that was averaging more than eight runs per game, Asheville held WCU to just one run in the win. Jacob Edwards started the contest and tossed 4.1 shutout innings with six strikeouts. After Edwards left the game, relievers Dawson Salter, Zeus Ponder, Bryce Fisher, and Dominic Freeberger combined to throw the final 5.2 innings allowing just one run to the hot-hitting Catamounts. Ponder got credit as the winning pitcher after tossing 2.2 scoreless frames marking his first collegiate win.
Another crucial part of Asheville's win Tuesday was its work defensively. As a team, the Bulldogs turned three double plays in the contest, which included a key 1-2-3 double play started by Ponder to get the Bulldogs out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth. Perhaps the defensive highlight of the night, however, came in the third inning, where Freeberger robbed a home run to preserve Asheville's 1-0 lead.
Freeberger robs one! #ALLinAVL #TTS pic.twitter.com/02bEL1qypJ
— UNC Asheville Baseball (@UNCAvlBaseball) March 22, 2022
Offensively, the Bulldogs scored their five runs thanks to contributions from several different players. Leadoff man Ty Kaufman did a stellar job getting on base at the top of the order as he went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. Robbie Burnett also had a two-hit night going 2-for-5, while the tandem of Michael Groves (two-run double) and Corbin Lanowitz (sacrifice fly, RBI single) came through with some vital run-producing at-bats to fuel the victory.
Asheville will be back in action this weekend when it returns home to Greenwood Field to play host to Charleston Southern for a three-game Big South series. The series begins Friday evening, and the first pitch for that matchup is set for 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Edwards, Jacob (2-3)
L: Davis Mortland (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Kaufman, Ty 2 ; Groves, Michael 1
RBI: Lanowitz, Corbin 2 ; Groves, Michael 2
SH: Reece, Tylan 1 ; Groves, Michael 1
SF: Lanowitz, Corbin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaufman, Ty 2 ; Bacot, Dylan 1 ; Burnett, Robbie 1 ; Johnson, Cameron 1
SB: Kaufman, Ty 1 ; Bacot, Dylan 1
Batting:
2B: Pascanel Ferreras 1
HR: Pascanel Ferreras 1
RBI: Pascanel Ferreras 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pascanel Ferreras 1
SB: Jordan Starkes 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF/OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
C/U
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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