UNCG (14-10, 3-6 SoCon) vs. Furman (13-13, 3-6 SoCon)
UNCG Baseball Stadium • Greensboro, N.C.
March 30-31 & April 1, 2012 • Game 25-27 • 6 p.m., 1 p.m., 1 p.m.
LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com
Video: Spartan All Access (Friday and Sunday only)
Storylines:
• After playing six of its last seven games away from UNCG Baseball Stadium, the Spartans will host the Furman Paladins in a Southern Conference series this weekend. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on Friday at UNCG Baseball Stadium. The two teams will convene at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
• Last weekend, UNCG hit the road for the second weekend in a row for a Southern Conference series with Western Carolina. Due to rain in the area, the teams didn't play on Friday and played a doubleheader on Saturday. In game one, Western Carolina took control of the game in a three-run second inning and never looked back. UNCG would strike for a run in the top of the fourth, but the Catamounts proved too much as Dykota Spiess sparked the offense going 3-for-3 with five RBI off the bench for Western Carolina and led it to a 16-2 victory in game one. Spiess proved detrimental to the Spartans once again after hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning as Western Carolina took the back-end of the doubleheader, 6-5. On Sunday, Max Povse tossed six innings of one-run ball while national home run co-leader Trevor Edwards hit his 10th and 11th home runs on the season as UNCG avoided the sweep with a 5-1 victory.
• On Wednesday, UNCG rallied from four runs behind to defeat crosstown rival North Carolina A&T, 7-4. The Aggies took a 4-0 lead after an inning and a half of play following back-to-back-to-back singles from Michael Radford, Andre McKoy and Marquis Riley. UNCG responded quickly as Thomas Troelstrup hit a solo blast in the bottom of the second inning to bring the score to 4-1 in the Aggies' favor. After scoring a run in the fourth inning, UNCG put up a three-spot in the fifth inning highlighted by a two-run double from Nick Chapman. Leading 5-4 going into the bottom of the eighth, UNCG scored two insurance runs as Troelstrup struck again with an RBI single and teammate Zach Leach did the same to extend the Spartan lead to three. Zach Furl needed only seven pitches to collect his second save of the year as he worked a perfect ninth.
• Tallahassee, Fla., native Troelstrup has found himself in the midst of an impressive season. He has started every game for the Spartans this year and leads the team in at-bats (93), hits (30) and doubles (eight) and is tied for the team lead in RBI (22). He sits in second in batting average (.323), home runs (five), total bases (53) and slugging percentage (.570).
• The Paladins will be led by a trio of Wills. Will Owens, Will Miller and Will Muzika are the top three Paladins in batting average (.382, .343, .290), at-bats (102, 108, 100), runs scored (28, 23, 16) and hits (39, 37, 29). Miller leads the team with 27 RBI, 65 total bases and in slugging percentage (.602). Elliot Warford will head the pitching staff with a 3.43 era and has appeared in 17 games this season.
• On Wednesday, the Paladins saw their two-game winning streak snapped as they fell to Winthrop 5-2.
• Last year, the Paladins bested the Spartans by taking two-of-three in Greenville, S.C. In game one, Furman jumped out to a 4-0 that it'd never relinquish and would take the series opener, 7-4. Following inclement weather, the teams played a twinbill on Sunday. Furman took the front-end of the doubleheader, 6-5, in 12 innings. UNCG would avoid the sweep by cruising to an 11-4 victory in game two. The two teams met again in the Southern Conference tournament in Charleston, S.C., on May 25 and Furman downed the Spartans 12-6 in a first-round matchup.
• With three on Wednesday, UNCG has accumulated 45 sacrifice bunts on the year, which is best in the nation. Cambric Moye leads the team with nine and Christian Wolfe sits second with eight.
• Through the first 24 games of the season, the Spartans have already hit 29 home runs, which surpasses last year's total of 23. Edwards leads the way with 11 home runs. UNCG has sent a ball over the fence in 15 of its 24 contests.
• UNCG has made admission free for all home games this season at UNCG Baseball Stadium. Fans are encouraged to come out and support the Spartans all season long on campus.
- UNCG -
