University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
15-10, 0
Presbyterian
12-15, 0
Bulldogs Drop Series Opener to Presbyterian, 5-3
03.31.2023 | Baseball
Both Asheville and Presbyterian finished the game with 10 hits. Seven of the nine Bulldogs that started Friday logged hits in the contest, including a trio of two-hit outings. Robbie Burnett and Dylan Bacot both finished the night 2-for-5, while Michael Groves went 2-for-4 to help the cause.
Asheville used five pitchers on Friday. Bryce Fisher got the starting nod and pitched well. Fisher pitched the first five innings, allowing two runs on four hits to go with four strikeouts. Cole Bates, Brett Johnson, and Dawson Salter all logged scoreless outings out of the Bulldog bullpen.
Presbyterian would get the scoring started Friday with a solo home run in the top of the second inning. An RBI double in the fifth would double the Blue Hose lead to two runs, 2-0, heading into the middle innings.
Trailing by a pair of runs, the Bulldogs would crack the scoreboard in the sixth. Cameron Johnson and Ty Kaufman picked up back-to-back doubles to cut the Blue Hose lead to one, 2-1.
A productive groundout by Groves moved Kaufman up to third base with one out. A successful squeeze bunt pulled off by Tony Castonguay scored Kaufman and tied the score at two.The Bulldogs are on the board in the sixth as Kaufman scores Johnson with a double down the right field line! #ALLinAVL #TTS pic.twitter.com/T8sLlkg46V
— Asheville Baseball (@UNCAvlBaseball) March 31, 2023
Asheville would take the lead in the seventh. Bacot led things off with a single. He then stole second, advanced to third thanks to a throwing error by the pitcher on a pickoff attempt and scored on a wild pitch.
Trailing 3-2 going to the eighth inning, Presbyterian battled back. Four hits including a pair of doubles put PC back in front 5-3.
Asheville had a runner reach base in the eighth and ninth innings but did not come up with the key hits to bring them around to mount a rally and the Blue Hose finished off the 5-3 win.
The Bulldogs and Blue Hose will be back in action on Saturday for game two of the series. First pitch for that tilt is set for 3 p.m. on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: SMITH, Tanner (1-1)
L: Little, Blake (0-1)
Batting:
2B: FAHR, Brody 1 ; REEVES, Dalton 1 ; RIOS, Lorenzo 1 ; WETHERINGTON, Jay 1
HR: MERKLE, Kyle 1
RBI: REEVES, Dalton 2 ; MERKLE, Kyle 1 ; RIOS, Lorenzo 1 ; WETHERINGTON, Jay 1
Base Running:
RUNS: FAHR, Brody 1 ; OUZTS, Ryan 1 ; REEVES, Dalton 1 ; MERKLE, Kyle 1 ; DECKER, Kyle 1
SB: DECKER, Kyle 1 ; WETHERINGTON, Jay 1
CS: FENDERSON, Trey 1
Batting:
2B: Johnson, Cameron 1 ; Kaufman, Ty 1
RBI: Kaufman, Ty 1 ; Castonguay, Tony 1
SH: Castonguay, Tony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bacot, Dylan 1 ; Johnson, Cameron 1 ; Kaufman, Ty 1
SB: Bacot, Dylan 1 ; Castonguay, Tony 1
HBP: Abrams, Kohl 1
