HIGH POINT, N.C. – Joe Simeone twirled a three-hit shutout to spark Gardner-Webb's 4-0 win over No. 3 UNC Asheville in the first round of the 2022 Ingles Big South Conference Baseball Championship.

The Runnin' Bulldogs advance to play No. 2 seed USC Upstate on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is set for 3 pm in the 4,500-seat home of the independent league High Point Rockers (ESPN+).

Gardner-Webb (23-34) went to work early, with Jacob Marcos and AJ Jones hitting singles to lead off the game and put runners on the corners. Alec Burns drove home Marcos with a deep sacrifice fly and Curtis Robison ripped an RBI single into right for a 2-0 lead.

Daegan Brady kept the pressure on with a single to move Robison over to third, and Peter Capobianco laid down a nice squeeze bunt to plate the third run of the inning.

UNC Asheville (20-28-1) responded by loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first, but GWU ace Joe Simeone worked out of trouble with two strikeouts and a fly ball to keep the 3-0 lead intact.

Gardner-Webb struck again in the fourth, with Capobianco leading off with a base on balls. Humberto Torres kept it going with a single through the left side and – after Bo Rusher III walked – Alex Ray drove home Capobianco with a fielder's choice.

That would be all Simeone (9-6) needed on Wednesday, as he threw a career-high 143 pitches and struck out eight in his fourth complete game of the season. He rolled 14 ground balls and saw 82 of his pitches find the strike zone.

Marcos and Jones led Gardner-Webb's seven-hit attack with two hits each. Robison, Brady and Torres also had hits.

UNC Asheville's Ryan Douglas (1-6) took the loss on the mound, allowing four runs on six hits in 3.1 innings of work. Justin Honeycutt came on and tossed 5.0 shutout innings in relief with six strikeouts.

Dominic Freeberger, Robbie Burnett and Michael Groves each had one of Asheville's three hits.