Box Score GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG Baseball team came up a couple runs short in a back-and-forth battle with Army on Sunday afternoon. The Spartans fell 6-4 to the Black Knights at the UNCG Baseball Stadium, and are now 8-3 on the season. Army improves to 3-7 overall. The game was tied on three separate occasions with three different lead changes during the game. UNCG is now 7-4 against Army, with Link Jarrett going 4-1 career against the Black Knights.
“They (Army) deserved to win today.” Head Coach Link Jarrett said, “They played a better game. We didn't play an awful game, but there were a couple mistakes that can come back to bite you. Army's starting pitcher did a really nice job. He moved the ball around; they made some good adjustments and were able to keep us in check offensively. We never really got anything going. They made plays and pitched well. They played better than us today. I'm glad we won the series but we couldn't do enough offensively do get over the hump today.”
Tripp Shelton (Winston-Salem, N.C./West Forsyth) had another multiple-hit game for UNCG. The sophomore shortstop connected for two hits and drove in a pair in the loss. Ben Spitznagel (Cincinnati, Ohio/Wabash Valley CC), Dillon Stewart (Dunn, N.C./Brunswick CC), Jake Kusz (Durham, N.C./Riverside) and Andrew Moritz (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) each connected for a hit. Kusz scored twice, with Spitznagel and Moritz scoring one run each.
Matt Frisbee (Candler, N.C./Enka) had his best start of the season Sunday afternoon. The freshman went 5.0 innings, giving up four hits and striking out two hitters. UNCG used five pitchers in the game, with Jake Lewis (Wendell, N.C./Corinth Holders) and Ben Kerner (Cary, N.C./Brunswick CC) pitching out of the bullpen. Lewis gave up a run on two hits in 0.1 innings, with Kerner allowing one run on one hit in an inning of work.
Zach Kuchmaner (Charlotte, N.C./Marvin Ridge) tossed 0.2 in relief, striking out one and giving up a hit. Easton Welch (Randleman, N.C./Randleman) (0-1) worked 0.2 innings and picked up the loss. Welch gave up two runs on two hits. Woody finished up the last 1.1 innings, striking out one batter and retiring all four hitters he faced.
The Black Knights took the lead early for the second-straight day. In the top of the second inning, Army scored a run on a UNCG throwing error and a sacrifice bunt gave them a 2-0 lead.
UNCG tied the game up in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Moritz reached on a fielding error before Spitznagel singled to left. After a balk put both runners in scoring position, Shelton drove a double down the left field line to bring in both and tie the game up.
The Spartans took a narrow lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Kusz singled to start the inning and moved to second on another Army balk. A fly ball to right field allowed Kusz to take third before a wild pitch brought him in to give UNCG a 3-2 lead.
Army was able to tie the game up in the top of the sixth, using two singles and a sacrifice fly to knot the game up at three.
The Black Knights scored another solo run in the top of the seventh inning to regain the lead. A pinch-hit double from Alex Dickerson scored Kris Lindner to put Army up, 4-3.
UNCG battled back after the seventh inning stretch, tying the game back up at four. Kusz walked to start the frame and moved to third on a Moritz double. An Army wild pitch allowed Kusz to score the tying run.
Army regained the lead in the top of the eighth frame, scoring two runs. Two hit by pitches put runners on and Amy capitalized with two singles to center to give them a 6-4 lead. UNCG was unable to mount a comeback late and suffered the first loss at home of the season.
The Spartans return to action on Wednesday, Mar. 9th as they start the first road swing of the season, with a single game in Wilmington, N.C. Following the game with the Seahawks, UNCG will take part in the Coastal Carolina Invitational in Conway, S.C. from Mar. 11th-13th.
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