UNCG hosts Furman for regular-season finale series

UNCG (20-30, 7-20 SoCon) vs. Furman (16-34, 8-19 SoCon), May 20-22, 7 p.m., 6 p.m., 2 p.m.

LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com
Video: Spartan All Access

Storylines:    

- UNC Greensboro takes to the diamond for the final time in the regular season this weekend as the Spartans host Furman for a three-game series beginning on Thursday. The series will kick off with a 7 p.m. game on Thursday followed by a 6 p.m. game on Saturday. The two teams will play their regular-season finale on Saturday at 2 p.m. On Saturday, seniors Corey Overholtzer and Alex Shelton will be honored.

- The Spartans and Paladins have met 45 previous times in school history, with UNCG holding a slim 24-21 lead in the all-time series. Last season, the two teams also met on the final week of the regular season, with the Spartans coming away with a 2-1 series win in Greenville, S.C. In the opening game, UNCG held a 2-0 lead until the Paladins tied the game in the eighth inning before winning the game, 3-2, in the 11th inning. The Spartans fought back in the second to win 14-4 before winning the rubber game, 6-5, to claim the weekend series.

- Last weekend, the Spartans were swept at the hands of The Citadel, who leads the league this year. Asher Wojciechowski pitched a complete game for the Bulldogs on Friday night as they won, 8-2, and Matt Talley followed that up with a complete-game shutout on Saturday for The Citadel as it won 5-0. In the series finale, UNCG held a 1-0 lead going into the sixth inning, but the Bulldogs scored one run in the final three innings they batted as they completed the sweep with a 3-1 win.

- This season, the UNCG baseball team is embarking on its 20th season and is approaching a milestone for the program. The Spartans need just two more wins this season to reach 600 wins in school history. Coming into the season, UNCG had won 578 all-time games in 19 seasons, 569 of them coming since UNCG moved into Division I in 1992. All of these wins have come under the watch of head coach Mike Gaski.

- Senior center fielder Corey Overholtzer broke the school record for the most triples in a career against Appalachian State. His triple off of the top of the right field wall in the fifth inning allowed him to easily record the 17th triple in his career. That broke the previous school record of 16 triples set by Ryan Gordon in 2004. Now having 18 triples, he is just four triples away from breaking the SoCon record for most triples hit in a career, which is currently held by Lee Curtis from College of Charleston. He also ranks third in career at-bats (766), third in games played (211), sixth in RBI (130), sixth in hits (226) and seventh in total bases (353).

- Junior Chris Barker has been a baseball magnet as of late as he now leads the league and is fourth nationally after being hit by a pitch 24 times this season. In his first 19 games this season, Barker was only hit by one pitch. Since then, he has been hit by a pitch 23 times in the last 29 games, including 19 times in the last 21 games. He has now been walked or hit by a pitch 50 times this season for an on-base percentage of .445.

- Fellow junior Colby Hyatt has been the backbone of the pitching staff as of late as he has recorded four wins in his last six appearances. In four of those appearances, he has gone at least seven innings and has not allowed more than three earned runs. He has dropped his ERA 0.96 over those six appearances and is now seventh in the conference with a 4.29 ERA. He is also first in the SoCon in innings pitched with 94 1/3 innings and is eighth in the league with seven wins.

- True freshman Harry Slade had his season-high seven-game hitting streak snapped against Duke (4/14). During that stretch he hit 13-30 at the plate for a .433 batting average. He hit two doubles and a pair of triples, while also adding an RBI and six runs scored. His current average of .388 for the season ranks him fifth in the Southern Conference. He also ranks 15th in the league with a .449 on-base percentage and is tied with 10 others for 10th in the SoCon with two triples.

- Sophomore Kris Richards is had his team-best nine-game hitting streak snapped in the loss to Elon on Sunday, April 4. During that stretch, Richards hit 16-32 for a .500 average with two doubles and a home run. He also slugged .656 with four RBI and six runs scored during that stretch.

- Harry Slade broke into the starting lineup in left field against Princeton on March 15, and responded by recording at least one hit in 16 of the first 18 games he had an official at-bat. During that stretch, he hit .408, going 29-71 at the plate, with six doubles, two triples, seven RBI and 16 runs scored. He drew nine walks during that time as well.

- For his efforts in the series sweep of Cleveland State, center fielder Corey Overholtzer was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week. Overholtzer hit .556 at the plate with four RBI and seven runs scored in the three games. He hit a two-out game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday and hit a solo home run in the eighth and a RBI single in the ninth on Sunday.

- Following the 2009 season, junior Rob Gilliam was drafted in the 8th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Oakland Athletics. Gilliam signed with the Athletics a few weeks later and ended his season with the Vancouver Canadians. The Spartans have now had at least one pitcher drafted in 11 of the past 13 seasons.

- This season, "Freebie Fridays" will return for all UNC Greensboro Friday home games. This initiative was created last season to allow fans to attend every UNCG home game on a Friday for no admission charge.