CLINTON, S.C. – Freshman third baseman Ryan Hedrick (High Point, N.C.) hit a walk-off double to give Presbyterian College baseball a wild win and a series sweep of the UNC Asheville Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon at the PC Baseball Complex, 6-5.
PC (21-15, 4-8 Big South) sweeps UNC Asheville (16-21, 3-9 Big South) for the second straight season and will next head to South Carolina on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. clash against the Gamecocks in Columbia.
Cam McRae (Darlington, S.C.) went 3-for-4 with an RBI to extend his reached base streak to 19 games. Jacob Midkiff (Rock Hill, S.C.) and Jay Lizanich (Greer, S.C.) each posted two hits and Billy Motroni (Goose Creek. S.C.) drove in a game-high two RBI.
Down 1-0 after the first inning, PC tied the game in the seventh before exploding for four runs in the eighth. Asheville evened the score in the top of the ninth, only to see the Blue Hose rally for the walk-off win. Lizanich led off the ninth with a hit to right field and one out later, Midkiff beat out an infield single to put two aboard and bring up Hedrick. The rookie ripped a 1-1 pitch deep into left field and a joyous PC dugout stormed the field.
Russell Thompson (Alcolu, S.C.) earned the win in relief to move to 4-1. Freshman Tanner Chock (Loris, S.C.) went six innings in the start, allowing only one unearned run on five hits with five strikeouts. Hayden Deal (Newton, N.C.) pitched well in his 2.1 innings of work, fanning three.
UNC Asheville scored first in the opening inning. The Bulldogs cashed in on a pair of walks, scoring from second on a wayward throw as PC tried to complete a double play. Tommy Houmard led Asheville with three hits.
Freshman Jack McLaughlin (Marietta, Ga.) started at designated hitter and picked up his first career hit via a third-inning single.
PC threatened in the fourth when McRae doubled and came home on a Midkiff single, but the Bulldogs tagged the senior at the plate to keep the Blue Hose scoreless.
The Blue Hose loaded the bases in the seventh on a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch to bring up Motroni, who tied the game on a deep sacrifice fly to left field.
After Deal shut down the Bulldogs in the eighth, PC tagged the visitors for four runs in the bottom of the frame. McRae gave PC the go-ahead run by singling through the right side and the Blue Hose loaded the bases shortly after. Patrick Burt (Cayce, S.C.) took a pitch off the body for an RBI hit-by-pitch and a McLaughlin sac fly scored another. Motroni capped the scoring, hitting an RBI single for a 5-1 Blue Hose lead.
Asheville answered in the ninth. A pair of singles to start gave Asheville an edge, but Lizanich recovered a ball deep in the hole at short and threw to third for a crucial force play and the first out of the inning. A bases-loaded error at first then allowed two to score before a sacrifice fly and an RBI single tied the game, 5-5. Three different Bulldogs drove in a run on the afternoon.
PC's heroics in the ninth gave the home team the win soon after, boosting the Blue Hose to 17-1 when leading after eight innings.
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UNC Asheville....... 100 000 004 - 5 9 0 (16-21, 3-9 BSC)
Presbyterian College 000 000 141 - 6 13 4 (21-15, 4-8 BSC)
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Pitchers: UNC Asheville - FULBRIGHT, Jordan; HUGHES,Tyler(7); BOYLES, Nick(8);
RANDALL, Corey(8); SCHAVONE, Nick(9) and OWENS, Lucas. Presbyterian College - CHOCK, Tanner;
DEAL, Hayden(7); THOMPSON, Russell(9) and RICHARDSON, TJ; BURT, Patrick.
Win-THOMPSON, Russell(4-1) Loss-SCHAVONE, Nick(2-2) T-2:52 A-176
Weather: Mid-70s, overcast, ESE @ 9 mph
HUGHES,Tyler faced 2 batters in the 8th.
