ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Behind a three-run top of the eighth along with three scoreless frames from senior Tanner Smith, the Presbyterian College baseball team earned a 5-3 series opening win over UNC Asheville on Friday night at Greenwood Field. Dalton Reeves connected on a go-ahead two-run double followed by three shutout innings from Smith to get the Blue Hose a victory.
FINAL SCORE: Presbyterian 5, UNC Asheville 3
LOCATION: Greenwood Field (Asheville, N.C.)
RECORDS: Presbyterian (12-15, 5-2) | UNC Asheville (15-10, 2-5)
W: Tanner Smith (1-1) | L: Blake Little (0-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Kyle Merkle connected on his first homer of the season in the second to give the Blue Hose the early advantage.
- In the fifth, Jay Wetherington connected on a double on the left field line that scored Kyle Decker to push the PC lead to 2-0.
- UNC Asheville got on the board with a pair of runs in the sixth to even the game at two thru six frames.
- The Bulldogs gained their first lead of the contest in the seventh plating a run off of a Blue Hose wild pitch to gain a 3-2 advantage.
- The Blue Hose regained the lead in the eighth on the swing of Dalton Reeves as the Blue Hose catcher lined a two-run double to right field that gave PC a 4-3 edge before an RBI double from Lorenzo Rios made it 5-3 in the series opener and Tanner Smith finished off the win for the Blue Hose on Friday night.
NOTABLES
- Brody Fahr, Decker and Wetherington each led the offensive attack on Friday with two hits apiece. Fahr now has tallied a team-high eight multi-hit games on the season.
- Reeves with his two RBIs now has tallied multiple runs knocked in during a team-high four games after his go-ahead two-run knock.
- Merkle's second-inning homer was PC's first in its last six games on Friday. Jack Gorman's ninth inning shot against High Point was the last one prior to the solo homer from Presbyterian's first baseman.
- It was also Merkle's first big fly since last May when he connected on a homer against Wofford in Spartanburg.
- The Blue Hose starter Duncan Howard didn't factor into Friday's decision but did match his season-high with six strikeouts over 5.1 innings.
- The 2x defending Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week Tanner Smith earned his first career win in a PC uniform on Friday with three shutout innings as he set a new career-high with six strikeouts over the final three frames.
- Smith has now pitched 11.2 scoreless innings over his last seven outings. He's now totaled 18 strikeouts and allowed five hits over his last seven appearances.
- After regaining the lead with three runs in the eighth, PC improved to 11-0 when leading after eight innings this season.
- The Blue Hose 5-2 start in league play marking the best start to league play since 2013 when PC began 5-2 to open Big South play during the 2013 campaign.
UP NEXT
- The Blue Hose continue their three-game series on Saturday with a 3 p.m. first pitch from Asheville on ESPN+.
