UNC Asheville Holds On For 11-7 Victory to Avoid Sweep

Freshman Keith Hustedt hit his second home run of the season in Sunday's 11-7 loss to the Bulldogs.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Freshman Keith Hustedt hit a home run in the top of the eighth to pull the CSU baseball team within one, but UNC Asheville scored three in the bottom half to secure an 11-7 win on Sunday. After the Buccaneers won the first two games of the series, the Bulldogs avoided a sweep by winning the finale, despite a late surge by CSU.

Senior Graham Baughn led UNC Asheville (22-30, 5-13 Big South) to the win, pitching seven innings to improve his record to 2-1 on the season. He allowed five runs on nine hits and three walks with four strikeouts in the victory. Making his fourth start of the year for the Bucs, freshman Jesse Cadenhead (1-2) took the loss after he gave up four runs on seven hits and a pair of walks in two innings.

Junior Kevin Weidenbacher jumpstarted the Bulldogs’ offense in the bottom of the first inning, hitting a one-out double down the right field line. He moved to third on sophomore Justin Schumer’s single to right field, giving the home team runners on the corners. One out later, junior Reed Kreiser put Asheville in front with a single that brought Weidenbacher in to score.

The Bulldogs extended their advantage in the bottom of the second inning, scoring three runs on four hits to take a 4-0 lead. Freshmen Danny Baatz and Chris Freeman led off the inning with back-to-back singles before a passed ball moved them both into scoring position. Another single by freshman Catlin Carter brought home Baatz and moved Freeman up to third base. Carter then stole second and senior Kevin Mattison drew a walk to load the bases for Asheville.

Cadenhead induced a double play ground ball for the first two outs of the inning, but Freeman scored on the play to add to the home team’s advantage. Schumer followed with a single up the middle to bring Carter home and put the Bulldogs ahead 4-0.

Getting just one hit in the top of the fourth inning, CSU (18-30, 6-12) scored three runs to pull within one of its host. Freshman Tom Burkett drew a walk, junior Jake Cox was hit by a pitch and freshman Tyler Thornburg earned another free pass to first on a walk to load the bases full of Buccaneers. Junior Mark Perry stepped in and made it 4-2 with a single through the right side that brought Burkett and Cox around to score. CSU cut into the deficit further when Perry stole second, causing an errant throw that allowed Thornburg to score from third.

Asheville quickly regained their four-run lead, however, scoring three runs in the bottom half of the fifth. Schumer led off the inning with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a groundout, putting him in position to tag up and score on Kreiser’s sacrifice fly to right field. With the bases clear, freshman Beau Zinman restarted the rally by drawing a two-out walk. Baatz followed with a double down the left field line, putting two Bulldogs in scoring position for Freeman, who delivered a two-run run single to make it 7-3 in favor of Asheville.

The Bucs cut the deficit in half in the top of the seventh with aggressiveness on the base paths. After Burkett reached on a one-out single, his speed cut the margin to 7-4 when came around to score all the way from first on a double to left field by Cox. Burkett was able to beat the relay, which allowed Cox to advance to third, coming home on a ground out by Thornburg.

After a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the seventh by Freeman extended Asheville’s lead back to three, CSU whittled the margin to one on Hustedt’s second home run of the season. With junior Kory Morian on base after drawing a walk in the top of the eighth, Hustedt stepped in as a pinch hitter and delivered a two-run homer down the left field line to make it 8-7 in favor of the Bulldogs.

But that was as close as the Bucs could get after Asheville scored three runs on five hits in the bottom of the eighth inning. Senior Elliott Arrington led off with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kreiser. After a pop out made it two down, Baatz singled to right center and brought Arrington around for the score. Freeman then singled up the middle, moving Baatz up to second before he came home on an infield single by Carter to put the home team in front by three, 10-7. Mattison helped the Bulldogs add some final insurance with a double down the left field line that brought Freeman in for an 11-7 Asheville advantage.

CSU will play its final home game on Wednesday at 3 p.m. against Presbyterian before hitting the road to wrap up the regular season with a three-game series against V.M.I. over the weekend.