BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb survived a furious comeback effort in the late innings by UNC Asheville, earning a 7-6 win to open the weekend series Friday night at Bill Masters Field at John Henry Moss Stadium.
Gardner-Webb (24-19, 23-11 Big South) held a 7-0 lead as play headed to the seventh inning when UNC Asheville (15-28, 14-21 Big South) began to rally, scoring six runs on five base hits. Michael Groves drove in the first runs of the day on a bases-loaded triple to the right field gap, immediately followed by a RBI groundout by Kohl Abrams to set the score at 7-4. Back-to-back base hits set up a two-RBI double for Brandon Lankford to pull the visiting Bulldogs within one run.
GWU went to its bullpen, bringing in
Connor Gleeson, who retired Ty Kaufman to end the frame.
Asheville threatened again in the top of the ninth, putting runners on the corners with two outs, but
Isaac Campbell was able to thwart UNC Asheville's efforts, getting Lankford to fly out to seal the contest for GWU.
Gardner-Webb jumped out on an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. After back-to-back base hits,
Eric Jones grounded into a double play that allowed
Mitch McLendon to score, followed by a solo home run to center field by
Keiji Parkhurst, his team-leading 12
th home run of the season.
The Runnin' Bulldogs added two more runs in the bottom of the second, as
Dom Peroni would score on another double play and
Ben LaSpaluto drove in one run on an infield single.
GWU pushed its lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning as a passed ball allowed
JP McGuire, who led off the frame with a base hit, to score.
Gardner-Webb scratched again in the fifth when
Joe Simone belted a two-run shot to right field, his first home run of the season.
The Runnin' Bulldogs totaled ten base hits on the evening, led by a 3-for-3 effort with one RBI by LaSpaluto. Simone (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) and McGuire (2-for-4) also had multi-hit nights.
Mason Miller (6-1) earned the win on the mound for GWU, allowing six runs on eight hits with 11 strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work. Gleeson recorded one out, and Campbell tossed the final two frames, allowing no runs on two hits with a pair of strikeouts to record his fifth save of 2021.
UNC Asheville had ten hits, led by Wade Chandler (2-for-5, 2B) and Dominic Freeberger (2-for-5).
Justin Honeycutt (3-2) took the loss for Asheville, giving up four runs on six hits with one strikeout in 1.2 innings of work.
The series wraps up tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 pm at Bill Masters Field at John Henry Moss Stadium. Following the conclusion of both games, the GWU senior class of 2021 will be recognized.
