GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG baseball heads to Charleston, South Carolina for a three-game series with The Citadel Bulldogs beginning Friday night. UNCG is three games up in the Southern Conference standings, with six league games remaining The Spartans have earned a 34-12 overall record and are 15-3 in league play The Bulldogs are currently in eighth place in league play with a 17-29 overall record and a 6-12 SoCon mark. This weekend's series is scheduled for Friday night at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Spartans can clinch at least a share of the Southern Conference Regular Season Championship this weekend. UNCG is three games up on the second-place Samford Bulldogs and own the tiebreaker after sweeping Samford at home earlier this year. The Spartans clinch at least a share of the regular season crown with a sweep. Other scenarios to clinch are dependent on how Samford plays, who is playing in a SoCon series at Western Carolina this weekend.
There are live stats and a video stream are available all weekend. Live stats are courtesy of CitadelSports.com and the stream will be live on the SoCon Digital Network. Links for each of these services are located on the UNCG baseball schedule page.
The Spartans and The Citadel have met up 67 times with The Citadel holding a 36-31 advantage. In the Link Jarrett era, UNCG and The Citadel have split the previous 16 meetings. The Spartans have had success lately, winning the last three-consecutive series. The last time UNCG swept the Bulldogs was during the 2011 season.
UNCG has won five of its last six games and eight of the last 10. The Spartans have won 11 of their 12 weekend series with five series sweeps this season, including three SoCon sweeps. The Spartans dropped Tuesday's contest to Winthrop and have lost back-to-back games just once this season.
The Spartan rotation will feature Matt Frisbee Friday night, Bryce Hensley Saturday and Jake Lewis will get the ball in the finale on Sunday. Frisbee will be making his 44th career start and has struck out 225 hitters in his career. This season, Frisbee has struck out 100 hitters, the most in a season for a UNCG pitcher since Chris Mason's school-record 135 punch outs in 2005. Frisbee is one of five pitchers to strikeout at least 100 hitters in a season, joining Taft Cable (2010), Jarrett Santos (2003), Ryan Gordon (2000) and Chris Mason (2005). Bryce Hensley will start Saturday. Its Hensley's 42nd career start and he's struck out 67 hitters on the year. Jake Lewis will start the series finale for the fifth-straight series. Lewis is 5-0 on the year and picked up a quality start against Mercer, going a career-high 6.0 innings without allowing an earned run.
UNCG's bullpen features a trio of seniors. Jack Maynard has made a team-high 25 appearances with nine saves and earned four wins. He's struck out 69 hitters in 55.0 innings of work while allowing just eight walks. His strikeout to walk ratio (8.63) is ranked eighth nationally and his strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio (11.49) ranks 49th in the nation. Andrew Wantz has worked in 22 games including two last weekend. He's gone 6-0 with eight saves in 47.1 innings of work. He's struck out 70 hitters and holds opponents to a .218 average against. His strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio (13.31) ranks seventh in the nation. Easton Welch adds 24 relief appearances on the season. Welch has gone 4-1 and picked up two saves in 38.2 innings of work. He holds opponents to a team-low .195 average against and has struck out 26 hitters.
The Citadel rotation will feature three right-handed hurlers. Jordan Merritt will start Friday, Thomas Byelick Saturday with Dylan Spence getting the ball on Sunday. Merritt has a 2-4 record with a 7.48 ERA in 43.1 innings of work. Byelick has earned a 4.61 ERA in 52.2 innings and 47 strikeouts. Spence has the best numbers of the starters, starting 12 games, with one relief appearance and has earned a 3-4 record, a 3.56 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 78.1 innings of work.
The Bulldogs have picked up seven saves on the season with Jonathan Sabo has earned a team-high three. He's made six relief appearances and started five games, earning a 5.59 ERA and a 1-3 record in 29 innings. Jordan Buster leads the team with 19 relief appearances. Buster has a 4.11 ERA, a 4-3 record and two saves in 35 innings. He leads the team with 53 strikeouts and holds opponents to a .227 average against. Alex Bialakis has also earned a pair of saves. Bialakis has a 5.32 ERA in 16 appearances with seven starts. In 45.2 innings of work, he's struck out 42 hitters.
William Kinney leads the Bulldog offense that is eighth in the league with a .262 team batting average. Kinney hits at a .320 average with 18 extra-base hits. He also leads the Bulldogs with six home runs and 36 RBI on the season. Bryce Leasure, aFreshman All-SoCon honoree last season, hits at a .299 average with five doubles and a triple and has driven in 12 runners. Jeffery Brown leads the team with 17 stolen bases and hits at a .295 clip. Sabo works as a two-way player, hitting at a .294 average with six home runs and 20 RBI. Ben Peden leads The Citadel with 14 doubles and is second with 34 RBI.
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