 |  |
Baseball Hosts Albany In Three-Game Set To Begin March
GREENSBORO, N.C. – After dropping two of three to defending Atlantic 10 champion Dayton last weekend, the UNCG baseball team looks to bounce back when the Spartans host America East member Albany for a three-game series at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. UNCG had the lead in the ninth inning in both of its losses to the Flyers last Sunday, but Dayton rallied in the top half of the inning both times to steal the victories.
The Spartans will face off with the Great Danes Friday at 4 p.m. before closing the weekend with a 2 p.m. contest Saturday and a 1 p.m. game Sunday.
Senior infielder Trevor Edwards had a monster week at the plate last week. In four games, he hit .333 (6-for-18) with two doubles, slugged two home runs, tallied nine RBI and scored three runs. He also slugged .778 during the stretch. Edwards also clubbed a three-run round-tripper in the game against UNC Asheville before delivering the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth as the Spartans took a 10-9 victory over their in-state rivals.
Junior LHP Dylan Hathcock also continued his solid start to the season on the bump as he threw 4.1 innings in relief in the series opener against Dayton. He improved his record to 2-0, scattering four hits, allowing just one run, striking out seven and walking one batter as UNCG downed the Flyers 8-2. Hathcock lowered his season ERA to 1.04 - the fourth-lowest mark in the league and also shrunk his career average to 3.68 - the second-lowest amonng active SoCon players. In the win over Dayton, he retired five of the first six batters he faced. Hathcock has pitched 8.2 innings and is currently tied for third in the Southern Conference with 12 strikeouts.
# UNCG and Albany have faced off on the diamond 19 times. The Spartans have dominated the series, winning 17 of the meetings. The teams last played in a three-game series during the 2011 season and UNCG took two of three at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
# Link Jarrett is the second head coach in the 24-year history of UNCG baseball. He spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator at Auburn University.
# The Spartans opened the season 4-0 for the second-straight season before falling to Dayton over the weekend. Last year, UNCG ran off seven-straight victories to begin the campaign before losing to Radford.
# UNCG opens the 2013 season playing 19 of its first 21 games at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Spartans will venture to East Carolina March 5 before traveling to Raleigh to face NC State March 19. In all, the Blue and Gold hosts 36 games during the year.
# An early look at the Southern Conference statistics finds the Spartans first in the league in batting with a .330 team average and second in pitching as the UNCG staff sports a 2.83 ERA. Individually, Cambric Moye is third in batting average (.500) while Christian Wolfe sits tied for second in doubles (4), third in hits (14) and seventh in batting average at .467. Dylan Hathcock sports the fourth-lowest ERA (1.04).
# The Spartans have showed well at the plate early in the season, scoring 25 runs (7.2 r/g), racking up 71 hits and batting .330 as a team. The Blue and Gold has five hitters batting over .300 and the offense has produced 26 extra base hits. UNCG leads the SoCon in triples with four.
# Edwards increased his career home run total to 28 with two home runs this past week. He is the Southern Conference active career leader in round-trippers and RBI while also placing inside the top five in slugging percentage and doubles.
Probable Pitching Matchups
RHP Kasceim Graham vs. LHP Dylan Hathcock
RHP Derek Zielinski vs. RHP Lee Gilliam
RHP Cameron Sorgie vs. TBA
NEXT UP…
UNCG plays its first road game of the campaign Tuesday, March 5, heading toward the coast for a nonconference game at East Carolina. First pitch at Clark-LeClair Stadium is scheduled for 5 p.m.
- UNCG -
