GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG baseball team begins its Southern Conference schedule this weekend, hosting two-time defending regular season champion Western Carolina for the third-straight season. The teams will open the series Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday's contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. while Sunday's finale is slated for 1 p.m. Each game will be streamed for free in HD via the SoCon Digital Network.
The Spartans enter the series with a 7-11 overall record after splitting a pair of midweek contests against NC State. The Blue and Gold beat the Wolfpack 7-3 in Greensboro Tuesday before NCSU returned the favor with an 8-3 victory Wednesday in Raleigh. The Catamounts won their lone midweek contest of the season Wednesday, picking up a 5-4 victory over Kennesaw State in Cullowhee.
WCU has recorded sweeps in its previous two visits to the UNCG Baseball Stadium and have won six straight over the Spartans. UNCG last won a game against the Catamounts on March 25 of 2012 to clinch a series win in Cullowhee. Western Carolina leads the overall series between the schools by a slim 29-28 margin. The Catamounts boast a pair of preseason All-America selections in first baseman Jacob Hoyle and infielder Bradley Strong. Strong leads the team with a .394 batting average while Hoyle has played in just six games this year.
The Spartans are batting .268 as a team with senior outfielder Zac MacAneney leading the way hitting .373. UNCG will send junior RHP Ryan Clark to the mound in the series opener as he is 3-1 with a 3.38 earned run average – good for ninth in the SoCon. Senior RHP Brennen James (0-3, 4.43) and freshman RHP Michael Bates (0-1, 7.15) will handle the Saturday and Sunday starting duties. Western Carolina will counter with LHP Bryan Sammons (2-2, 3.42), RHP Korey Anderson (1-2, 6.75) and LHP Brendan Nail (1-1, 5.75).
LAST MEETING: UNCG played toe-to-toe with Southern Conference leader Western Carolina for the third-straight day, but the Spartans could not muster enough offense in a 3-1 setback to the Catamounts at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Spartans out-hit the visitors in all three games, including by an 8-7 margin in this game, but their only run came off a leadoff home run by senior Sean Guite in the bottom of the fourth inning. Senior Dylan Thompson dropped to 1-3 on the season with the tough-luck loss. He put in a solid seven innings of work, scattering seven hits and giving up three runs while walking one and striking out two. Jordan Smith threw a complete game for WCU, allowing just one run on eight hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Guite went 2-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored – extending his hitting streak to 11 games in the process.
BITS AND PIECES : After putting together double-digit hits in just two of its first nine contests, UNCG has turned the trick in six of its last 10 outings ... The Blue and Gold is 5-2 when compiling double figures in the hit column ... The Spartans are nearly halfway to matching their home run total from last season (25), hitting 14 so far this campaign ... MacAneney has a current team-long eight-game hitting streak while King has reached base safely in nine consecutive contests ... In five home games this season, the Spartans are hitting .341 with a slugging mark of .634. ... The Spartan pitching staff has struck out 10 or more batters in five games.
UP NEXT : UNCG will play its annual game at NewBridge Bank Park with crosstown rival North Carolina A&T Tuesday, March 24 at 6 p.m. Admission is free for all fans but a ticket is required for entry.
Keep up with the UNCG baseball team all season by logging on to www.uncgspartans.com and following the Spartans' official Twitter accounts @uncgbaseball/@uncgsports.
