GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNC Greensboro scored five runs in the bottom of the third and made its lead stand thanks to reliever Greg Smith as the Spartans defeated Albany 8-4 on Friday night at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
Smith (2-0) pitched five innings of relief for the Spartans (4-1) while allowing just one run on four hits and striking out four batters. Dave Kubiak picked up the loss in the season opener for the Great Danes (0-1) after allow six runs in three innings of work.
The Spartans were led at the plate by freshman Eric Brindle who went 2-3 with four RBI and four other players also recorded an RBI. Four of UNCG's nine hits on the evening went for doubles.
UNCG fell into a hole in the top of the second inning when Josh Nethaway singled up the middle to score Pete Eichner from second and give the Great Danes a 1-0 lead.
The Spartans fought back in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at one. Chris Barker singled and advanced to second on a throwing error. A wild pitch put him on third before Brindle drove him in with a double to right center.
With two outs in the top of the third, the Great Danes scored a pair of unearned runs to pull back ahead, 3-1.
UNCG struck big in the bottom of the third as they put five runs across the plate to take a 6-3 lead and never looked back. Cory Overholtzer led off the inning with a walk and moved to third on a double by Ed Jayjack. A single through the left side by Ray Quinones scored Overholtzer and Jayjack scored after Zach Leach singled up the middle. A throwing error by the pitcher helped Quinones score from second on a fielder's choice by Barker. Brindle came up later in the inning and hit a single up the middle to score Barker and Leach.
The Spartans added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to stretch their lead out to 8-3. Quinones led off the inning with a double to center field and Leach followed with a walk. A sacrifice bunt by Barker moved the runners to second and third and the pair both later scored on fielder's choices.
Albany got one run in the top of the eighth on an RBI double by Brian Bullard to make the final score, 8-4.
The Spartans and Great Danes meet again on Saturday afternoon for the second game of the series at 1 p.m. at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
AGATE
UNC Greensboro 8, Albany 4
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Albany.............. 012 000 010 - 4 6 2 (0-1)
UNC Greensboro...... 015 020 00X - 8 9 2 (4-1)
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Pitchers: Albany - Kubiak, Dave; McFadden, Terry (4); Garcia, Christian (6) and Nethaway, Josh. UNC Greensboro - Matt Parish; Warren Slack (3); Greg Smith (4); Tyler Hollstegge (9) and Ed Jayjack.
Win-Greg Smith (2-0) Loss-Kubiak, Dave (0-1) T-3:00 A-137
Weather: 45, sunny, wind 22-32 mph
- UNCG -
