University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, May 14
Spartanburg, SC
2 p.m.
UNC Asheville
18-26, 0
11
at
3
USC Upstate
32-19, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UNC Asheville
0
4
0
3
0
0
4
0
0
11
15
0
USC Upstate
0
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
3
6
3
Bulldogs bounce back with an 11-3 win at USC Upstate
05.14.2022 | Baseball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After dropping the first game of this weekend's series at USC Upstate, the UNC Asheville baseball team bounced back with an 11-run, 15-hit performance to knock off the Spartans, 11-3, to even the series at a game a piece on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, Asheville improves to 18-26 overall and 12-8 in Big South play.
The 15-hit outburst from Asheville marked the fourth time this season that the Bulldogs have totaled 15 or more hits in a game. Ty Kaufman, Dominic Freeberger, and Corbin Lanowitz all had three-hit afternoons. Robbie Burnett and Dylan Bacot each posted two-hit outings to go along with run-producing hits from Michael Groves and Brock Mercado. Cameron Johnson reached base four times via four walks as well, which was the most walks drawn by a Bulldog since April 7, 2018, when former Bulldog Joe Zayatz also walked four times vs. Presbyterian.
Asheville used just two pitchers to get through Saturday's game. Ryan Douglas worked the first 4.2 innings and allowed three runs on four hits to go with two strikeouts. Justin Honeycutt pitched the final 4.1 innings to pick up his fourth win of the season. In his scoreless relief outing, Honeycutt allowed just two Spartan hits and struck out two.
After a scoreless first inning, the Bulldogs got the scoring started in the second. Asheville sent 10 hitters to the plate and came away with four hits and drew a couple of walks to put four runs on the board in the frame. Freeberger (RBI single) and Burnett (two-run single) delivered on two big run-producing hits in the four-run second.
Upstate got a run back in the third with a sacrifice fly before the Bulldogs answered back with three more runs in the fourth to make the score 7-1 Asheville. Upstate started to get to Douglas in the fourth. A two-run home run in the fourth cut the Bulldog lead to four, 7-3. The Spartans loaded the bases in the fifth against Douglas and Honeycutt was called upon to get his team out of the jam and he did just that inducing a fly out to center field to keep the score at 7-3.
After a scoreless sixth, the Bulldog offense revved back up in the seventh. A leadoff single by Kaufman was followed by a sacrifice bunt by Freeberger to give Asheville a runner in scoring position with one out. Following a strikeout, Bacot drove in Kaufman with a double to grow the lead to five, 8-3. Johnson drew a walk before Michael Groves knocked Bacot to make the score 9-3 Bulldogs. Brock Mercado continued the hit parade with a two-run double to plate Johnson and Groves to make the score 11-3 Bulldogs.
The eight-run cushion was more than enough for Honeycutt to take it the rest of the way and finish off the 11-3 win. The victory moves the Bulldogs one step closer to clinching a spot in the upcoming Big South Baseball Tournament.
Asheville and Upstate will close out their series on Sunday. The first pitch for the series finale is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
The 15-hit outburst from Asheville marked the fourth time this season that the Bulldogs have totaled 15 or more hits in a game. Ty Kaufman, Dominic Freeberger, and Corbin Lanowitz all had three-hit afternoons. Robbie Burnett and Dylan Bacot each posted two-hit outings to go along with run-producing hits from Michael Groves and Brock Mercado. Cameron Johnson reached base four times via four walks as well, which was the most walks drawn by a Bulldog since April 7, 2018, when former Bulldog Joe Zayatz also walked four times vs. Presbyterian.
Asheville used just two pitchers to get through Saturday's game. Ryan Douglas worked the first 4.2 innings and allowed three runs on four hits to go with two strikeouts. Justin Honeycutt pitched the final 4.1 innings to pick up his fourth win of the season. In his scoreless relief outing, Honeycutt allowed just two Spartan hits and struck out two.
After a scoreless first inning, the Bulldogs got the scoring started in the second. Asheville sent 10 hitters to the plate and came away with four hits and drew a couple of walks to put four runs on the board in the frame. Freeberger (RBI single) and Burnett (two-run single) delivered on two big run-producing hits in the four-run second.
Upstate got a run back in the third with a sacrifice fly before the Bulldogs answered back with three more runs in the fourth to make the score 7-1 Asheville. Upstate started to get to Douglas in the fourth. A two-run home run in the fourth cut the Bulldog lead to four, 7-3. The Spartans loaded the bases in the fifth against Douglas and Honeycutt was called upon to get his team out of the jam and he did just that inducing a fly out to center field to keep the score at 7-3.
After a scoreless sixth, the Bulldog offense revved back up in the seventh. A leadoff single by Kaufman was followed by a sacrifice bunt by Freeberger to give Asheville a runner in scoring position with one out. Following a strikeout, Bacot drove in Kaufman with a double to grow the lead to five, 8-3. Johnson drew a walk before Michael Groves knocked Bacot to make the score 9-3 Bulldogs. Brock Mercado continued the hit parade with a two-run double to plate Johnson and Groves to make the score 11-3 Bulldogs.
The eight-run cushion was more than enough for Honeycutt to take it the rest of the way and finish off the 11-3 win. The victory moves the Bulldogs one step closer to clinching a spot in the upcoming Big South Baseball Tournament.
Asheville and Upstate will close out their series on Sunday. The first pitch for the series finale is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Honeycutt, Justin (4-2)
L: WORRELL, Sawyer (3-1)
Batting:
2B: Bacot, Dylan 1 ; Mercado, Brock 1
RBI: Freeberger, Dominic 1 ; Burnett, Robbie 2 ; Bacot, Dylan 1 ; Groves, Michael 1 ; Mercado, Brock 2 ; Reece, Tylan 1 ; Lanowitz, Corbin 1
SH: Freeberger, Dominic 1 ; Groves, Michael 1
SF: Reece, Tylan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaufman, Ty 2 ; Freeberger, Dominic 1 ; Burnett, Robbie 1 ; Bacot, Dylan 2 ; Johnson, Cameron 2 ; Groves, Michael 1 ; Mercado, Brock 1 ; Lanowitz, Corbin 1
SB: Lanowitz, Corbin 1
HBP: Bacot, Dylan 1 ; Mercado, Brock 1
Batting:
2B: RABON, Noah 1 ; HENNESSY, Jack 1
3B: SHERROD, Grant 1
HR: RABON, Noah 1
RBI: RABON, Noah 2 ; HENNESSY, Jack 1
SF: HENNESSY, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MYERS, Noah 1 ; RABON, Noah 1 ; SHERROD, Grant 1
CS: CULLISON, Easton 1
HBP: CULLISON, Easton 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
cf/lf
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
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RHP
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C/U
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LHP/OF
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INF
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C/U
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