University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
14-20, 0
Radford
10-22, 0
Baseball Drops Series Finale with Radford on Sunday
04.14.2024 | Baseball
The Bulldogs jumped out to a hot start in the top of the first, when a first-pitch single by Ty Kaufman was followed by a two-run shot to right center by Robbie Burnett, his 13th of the season. Cameron Johnson would keep the train rolling with a double down the right field line, before advancing to third on a ground out by Corbin Lanowitz. Dylan Bacot would score Johnson on a sacrifice fly to put Asheville up 3-0 in the top half of the first. Radford would respond by batting around and scoring six runs in the home half of the inning. After a blank second inning, Radford would tack on three more runs in the third to make it a 9-3 game through three innings. Asheville would respond with five runs in the fifth and one run in the sixth to tie the game at 9-9. Michael Groves and Canon Pierce opened the fourth with back-to-back singles, before Brock Mercado launched his second home run of the season to right center to get Asheville back within three. After a Radford pitching change, Kohl Abrams singled to left to keep things going before a sacrifice bunt by Kaufman, an intentional walk to Burnett and a single to left by Johnson loaded the bases. Asheville's other two runs in the inning were brought home on a Radford error as well as a sacrifice fly by Bacot. Three straight singles brought home another run for Asheville in the fifth, with a one-out single to left by Mercado starting the train. Abrams dropped a single to right center to push Mercado to third, before he scored the game-tying run on an infield single by Kaufman. Radford brought the game to its final score with one run in the bottom of the sixth and three runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Groves and Mercado each paced Asheville with three hits in the game, while Kaufman, Johnson and Abrams each had two hits. Burnett, Lanowitz and Pierce each also contributed one hit in the game. Mercado led the way with three runs batted in, while Burnett and Bacot each had two RBI and Kaufman and Lanowitz each had one. Burnett and Mercado scored twice, while Kaufman, Johnson, Groves and Pierce each scored once. Justin Needles (2-2) took the loss for the Bulldogs, scattering one run on three hits in 3.2 innings of relief work. He relieved Cole Schiff, who got the start going 2.1 innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Shea Walker came on in relief of Needles, allowing two runs on two hits in 1.2 innings with one walk. Nic Melton and Jacob Williams combined to finish the game off on the bump for Asheville. Â
The Bulldogs return to the diamond on Friday (Apr. 19) for game one of their Big South Conference series against Winthrop. First pitch is set for 5:00 p.m. from Greenwood Field, with video and live stats available at www.uncabulldogs.com.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: STEINHAUS, Andrew (2-1)
L: Needles, Justin (2-2)
S: PARKS, Eli (1)
Batting:
2B: Johnson, Cameron 1
HR: Burnett, Robbie 1 ; Mercado, Brock 1
RBI: Kaufman, Ty 1 ; Burnett, Robbie 2 ; Lanowitz, Corbin 1 ; Bacot, Dylan 2 ; Mercado, Brock 3
SH: Kaufman, Ty 1
SF: Bacot, Dylan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaufman, Ty 1 ; Burnett, Robbie 2 ; Johnson, Cameron 1 ; Groves, Michael 1 ; Pierce, Canon 1 ; Mercado, Brock 2 ; Abrams, Kohl 1
SB: Kaufman, Ty 1 ; Burnett, Robbie 1
CS: Bacot, Dylan 1
HBP: Mercado, Brock 1
Batting:
2B: WHITACRE, Zack 1 ; BUTLER, Conner 1 ; KEEN, Hunter 1
3B: PITTMAN, Cameron 1
RBI: PITTMAN, Cameron 1 ; STALKER, Austin 1 ; BUTLER, Conner 4 ; BIGGERSTAFF, Drew 1 ; KEEN, Hunter 1 ; PEREZ, Jhonkeanu 2
SF: BUTLER, Conner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: PITTMAN, Cameron 2 ; BELL, Carson 2 ; WHITACRE, Zack 3 ; STALKER, Austin 1 ; SELF, Mason 1 ; BUTLER, Conner 1 ; BIGGERSTAFF, Drew 2 ; KEEN, Hunter 1
SB: STALKER, Austin 1 ; BUTLER, Conner 1
CS: GRANTHAM, Corbin 1 ; PEREZ, Jhonkeanu 1
