University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
14-16, 2-5
Gardner-Webb
14-16, 4-6
Baseball Drops Series Opener to Gardner-Webb on Thursday
04.02.2026 | Baseball
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Asheville struck first in the game in the home half of the first when Owen Michelson grounded out to score Blaize Johnson, as the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead to the second. Gardner-Webb responded with two runs in the top of the second and two runs in the top of the third, before Asheville scored twice in the bottom of the third to get within 4-3. Johnson blasted a one-out solo shot down the right field line, his eighth of the season and 14th of his career to get the game to 4-2. Patrick Gillen would reach on a fielding error to extend the inning before advancing to second on a throwing error, later to score on a single to right by Owen Michelson to cap off the inning. Gardner-Webb began to pull away in the game with three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth, before Asheville got one back in the fifth when Jake Pereira drew a bases-loaded walk to score Logan Lowe. Gardner-Webb would score two in the seventh, one in the eighth and two in the ninth while holding Asheville to just two runs in the ninth. Gillen began the ninth with a one-out walk, before Michelson walked to push him to second. With two outs in the inning, Ben Gren singled through the left side to load the bases, before Tyler Parks and Zeb Swangim would each draw walks to score runs and ultimately bring the game to its final score.
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Michelson, Green, Parks and Coleman McGinnis each paced the offense with two hits in the game, while Lowe, Johnson, Gillen and Swangim each had one hit. Johnson and Gillen each scored twice in the game, while Lowe and Michelson each scored once. Michelson drove in two runs, while Johnson, Periera, Parks, and Swangim each drove in one run. Lucas Boesen (1-1) took the loss on the bump, allowing eight runs on eight hits with five walks through 4.1 innings. He would hand the ball off to Ryland Howell, who allowed one run on two hits through 2.1 innings with two walks and one strikeout before a two-out stint from Landon Gross. Nic Melton and TJ Brooks would close things out on the mound for the Bulldogs, with Brooks picking up one strikeout in a clean inning of work.
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The Bulldogs return to action on Friday (Apr. 3) for the middle game of the series. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. from Greenwood Field with video and live stats available at www.uncabulldogs.com.
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A reminder that admission to all UNC Asheville Baseball games at Greenwood Field is free courtesy of Ingles!
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: ELLISON,Oliver (4-3)
L: Boesen, Lucas (1-1)
Batting:
2B: CARTER,Merik 1 ; LIAO,Ethan 1 ; ILGENFRITZ,Matt 1 ; ECTOR,Thad 1
3B: CAMARILLO,Allan 1
HR: CARTER,Merik 1 ; KENNELL,Ryan 1
RBI: CARTER,Merik 3 ; ILGENFRITZ,Matt 1 ; AGOSTO,Kelvin 1 ; STANZIONE,Joe 1 ; KENNELL,Ryan 4 ; THOMPSON,Zack 2 ; CAMARILLO,Allan 1
SF: STANZIONE,Joe 1 ; THOMPSON,Zack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: CARTER,Merik 4 ; LIAO,Ethan 1 ; ILGENFRITZ,Matt 1 ; AGOSTO,Kelvin 1 ; HAUSNER,Anthony 1 ; KENNELL,Ryan 2 ; THOMPSON,Zack 1 ; CAMARILLO,Allan 2
SB: CARTER,Merik 1 ; RIPEPI,Drew 1 ; ILGENFRITZ,Matt 1 ; KENNELL,Ryan 1 ; CAMARILLO,Allan 1
HBP: AGOSTO,Kelvin 1 ; HAUSNER,Anthony 1 ; ECTOR,Thad 1
Batting:
2B: Gillen, Patrick 1 ; Green, Ben 1
HR: Johnson, Blaize 1
RBI: Johnson, Blaize 1 ; Michelson, Owen 2 ; Pereira, Jake 1 ; Parks, Tyler 1 ; Swangim, Zeb 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lowe, Logan 1 ; Johnson, Blaize 2 ; Gillen, Patrick 2 ; Michelson, Owen 1
