ASHEVILLE, N.C. – UNC Asheville's bullpen pitched 3.2 scoreless innings to seal the win in a pitchers' duel as the Bulldogs outlasted Longwood, 4-1, spoiling a complete-game effort by senior starter
Cody Wager Friday at Greenwood Baseball Field.
The loss for Longwood (17-31, 5-14 Big South) ended a four-game winning streak for the Lancers. UNC Asheville (20-27, 9-10) rode a three-hit game by senior outfielder Joe Tietjen and a strong showing by the pitching staff to knock off the Lancers.
Wager (4-4) took the tough-luck loss in a gem. Wager struck out 10 batters in 8.0 innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on nine hits and two walks. Wager, who leads the Big South with 82 strikeouts on the season, picked up his fourth 10-strikeout game in his team-leading fifth quality start.
Danny Wilson (1-1) held Longwood to one first-inning run, spreading seven hits across 5.1 innings of work with three strikeouts and one walk issued.
Blake Brown collected his first save of the season with 3.0 scoreless innings, striking out four with one hit and one walk issued.
Longwood's offense got solid contributions from
Alex Lewis and
Justin Mitchell, who each picked up multiple hits. Lewis went 2-for-4 and Mitchell was 3-for-4 with an RBI and one double in the loss. The multi-hit game is the third in a row for Lewis, while Mitchell extends his RBI streak to six games.
The Lancers struck first in the first inning. With one out
Antwaun Tucker reached on an infield single, extending his hit streak to a season-best eight games. Lewis followed up with a single to left and Mitchell singled up the middle to bring in Tucker.
After UNC Asheville tied the game at one in the first inning on a throwing error, the Bulldogs took the lead in the third. Kyle Carruthers reached on a two-out walk and stole second, scoring on an RBI double down the left field line by Joe Tietjen.
UNC Asheville scored a pair more in the bottom of the sixth. Tyler Serrichio and Kole Harris each singled with one out. After an error, a sacrifice fly and wild pitch allowed a pair of runs to score, putting the UNC Asheville lead at 4-1.
The Lancers turn to sophomore left-hander
Steven Farkas (1-2, 3.05 ERA) against UNC Asheville's freshman southpaw Greg Gasparro (3-3, 5.13 ERA). Game two between Longwood and UNC Asheville is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch Saturday at Greenwood Baseball Field.
#GoWood
