ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team could not overcome an early UNC Asheville lead and fell to the Bulldogs at Greenwood Field on Saturday, 4-2.
PC moves to 19-17 overall and 6-5 in Big South Conference play while Asheville improves to 12-25 and 2-9 in league action. The two sides meet for the rubber match on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Nate Chong (Duluth, Ga.) hit his team-leading sixth home run of the season while Brandon Paul (Augusta, Ga.), Jay Lizanich (Greer, S.C.) and Ryan Hagan (Sugar Hill, Ga.) each tallied two hits. Both teams packed all their scoring into the first four innings.
Chandler Knox (Columbia, S.C.) pitched a solid seven innings in the starting role. The junior struck out a career-high 10 Bulldogs but allowed four runs to see his record slip to 2-4. Michael Ricchi (McKinney, Texas) threw one scoreless inning of relief.
Asheville took a 3-0 lead after the first two innings by striking for a pair in the second. A Tommy Houmand solo shot put the Bulldogs on the board in the first before a double and triple scored one and led to a sacrifice fly in the second.
Chong's solo home run in the third cut Asheville's lead to two. The Bulldogs responded with a Kyle Towles RBI single in the bottom of the frame to get the run back, however. Knox then held Asheville to the lone run, striking out the next two batters to strand two runners.
A pair of doubles Paul and Cam McRae (Darlington, S.C.) led off the fourth inning and scored a run, bringing the score to 4-2. Singles from Hagan and Derek Long (Alpharetta, Ga.) preceded a wild pitch that moved the runners to second and third with two outs. PC proved unable to covert, though, as a swinging strikeout ended the frame.
From there, pitching and defense shut down each team's offense. Knox continued to deal from the mound and hold the Bulldogs scoreless as Asheville did the same. Each team stranded a runner in the fifth and sixth innings and the Blue Hose placed Hagan at third in the ninth. A two-out groundout then halted PC's chances and sealed the win for Asheville, 4-2.
Dean Roland earned his second win of the season by throwing seven innings of two-run ball. Billy Creighton received the save in relief.
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Presbyterian College 001 100 000 - 2 10 0 (19-17, 6-5 BSC)
UNC Asheville....... 121 000 00X - 4 11 0 (12-25, 2-9 BSC)
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Pitchers: Presbyterian College - KNOX, Chandler; RICCHI, Michael(8) and . UNC Asheville -
ROLAND, D.; CREIGHTON, B(8) and .
Win-ROLAND, D.(2-6) Save-CREIGHTON, B(2) Loss-KNOX, Chandler(2-4) T-2:09 A-291
HR PC - CHONG, Nathan (6).
HR AVL - HOUMARD, T. (2).
Weather: 60 Degrees, Fair
