University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Friday, May 13
Spartanburg, SC
6 p.m.
UNC Asheville
at
USC Upstate
Baseball preps for a key Big South series at USC Upstate this weekend
05.12.2022 | Baseball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville baseball team will have arguably its biggest series of the 2022 season this weekend as it travels to take on USC Upstate for a three-game set. The series is set to begin Friday evening at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Zeus Ponder (AVL) vs. Noah Sullivan (UPST) – Friday @ 6 p.m. (Live Stats) (ESPN+)
Game 2: Ryan Douglas (AVL) vs. Sawyer Worrell (UPST) – Saturday @ 2 p.m. (Live Stats) (ESPN+)
Game 3: Jacob Edwards (AVL) vs. Jacob Curry (UPST) – Sunday @ 1 p.m. (Live Stats) (ESPN+)
Last Time Out – UNC Asheville closed out its non-conference schedule on Tuesday at East Tennessee State. ETSU scored seven times in the final three innings to knock off the Bulldogs, 7-4. With the loss, Asheville is now 17-25 on the season.
Senior Starter Shoutout – Senior Jacob Edwards is nearing some career milestones that just a few Bulldogs have ever attained. With four more strikeouts, Edwards will become the seventh Asheville pitcher to reach 200 career strikeouts and the first to do so since Ryan Dull in 2012. Edwards also needs just one more win to tie Dull for fifth place on the program's all-time win list with 16 career victories.
Elite ERAs – Edwards and fellow lefthander Justin Honeycutt have been outstanding this season. Entering this weekend's series, Edwards has an ERA of 2.27 in 71.1 innings, while Honeycutt's checks in at 2.33 in 38.2 innings. If the season ended today, those respective ERAs would be the fifth and sixth-lowest single-season ERAs for Bulldog pitchers with at least 30 innings thrown.
Big Matchup in the Big South – This weekend's series at Upstate marks one of the biggest series for the Bulldogs in recent memory. This series, which matches up the programs that currently sit second and third in the league standings, could lock up a first-round bye for the Spartans in the upcoming Big South Baseball Tournament or could clinch a spot for the Bulldogs in the Tournament. The top six teams in the Big South standings will advance to the Tournament that will take place May 25-28 at the home ballpark of the High Point Rockers in High Point, N.C.
About USC Upstate – Upstate has been playing well lately as it has won six of its last seven games, including a 9-6 victory at South Carolina on Tuesday. A key player for the Spartans this season has been Devin Buckner, who is hitting .342 with seven home runs and a team-high 49 RBI.
Series Rewind vs. USC Upstate – Asheville and Upstate have met a total of 34 times over the years, with the latter holding a 24-10 edge in the all-time series. The Spartans have won the last five games between the two programs. Asheville will look for its first victories over Upstate since 2019, when it took two of three vs. the Spartans at Greenwood Field.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Zeus Ponder (AVL) vs. Noah Sullivan (UPST) – Friday @ 6 p.m. (Live Stats) (ESPN+)
Game 2: Ryan Douglas (AVL) vs. Sawyer Worrell (UPST) – Saturday @ 2 p.m. (Live Stats) (ESPN+)
Game 3: Jacob Edwards (AVL) vs. Jacob Curry (UPST) – Sunday @ 1 p.m. (Live Stats) (ESPN+)
Last Time Out – UNC Asheville closed out its non-conference schedule on Tuesday at East Tennessee State. ETSU scored seven times in the final three innings to knock off the Bulldogs, 7-4. With the loss, Asheville is now 17-25 on the season.
Senior Starter Shoutout – Senior Jacob Edwards is nearing some career milestones that just a few Bulldogs have ever attained. With four more strikeouts, Edwards will become the seventh Asheville pitcher to reach 200 career strikeouts and the first to do so since Ryan Dull in 2012. Edwards also needs just one more win to tie Dull for fifth place on the program's all-time win list with 16 career victories.
Elite ERAs – Edwards and fellow lefthander Justin Honeycutt have been outstanding this season. Entering this weekend's series, Edwards has an ERA of 2.27 in 71.1 innings, while Honeycutt's checks in at 2.33 in 38.2 innings. If the season ended today, those respective ERAs would be the fifth and sixth-lowest single-season ERAs for Bulldog pitchers with at least 30 innings thrown.
Big Matchup in the Big South – This weekend's series at Upstate marks one of the biggest series for the Bulldogs in recent memory. This series, which matches up the programs that currently sit second and third in the league standings, could lock up a first-round bye for the Spartans in the upcoming Big South Baseball Tournament or could clinch a spot for the Bulldogs in the Tournament. The top six teams in the Big South standings will advance to the Tournament that will take place May 25-28 at the home ballpark of the High Point Rockers in High Point, N.C.
About USC Upstate – Upstate has been playing well lately as it has won six of its last seven games, including a 9-6 victory at South Carolina on Tuesday. A key player for the Spartans this season has been Devin Buckner, who is hitting .342 with seven home runs and a team-high 49 RBI.
Series Rewind vs. USC Upstate – Asheville and Upstate have met a total of 34 times over the years, with the latter holding a 24-10 edge in the all-time series. The Spartans have won the last five games between the two programs. Asheville will look for its first victories over Upstate since 2019, when it took two of three vs. the Spartans at Greenwood Field.
Players Mentioned
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