ASHEVILLE, NC ? The University of Hartford baseball (3-6 overall) team, behind 17 hits, evened its three game series against the UNC Asheville (9-12 overall) Bulldogs on Friday with an 11-4 win. The Hawks and Bulldogs close out the series with a single game on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. to decide the series. Hartford will also play a single game against the Brown Bears on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
Mike Amendola, Bill Perry and Ben Sobocinski all went 3-for-5 at the plate to lead the Hartford charge. Two other players finished with a multi-hit day, Matt Walker (2-for-3) and Drew Sgro (2-for-4) each finished with two hits. Amendola led the Hawks with three RBI, while Walker and Sgro each knocked in two runs. Perry and Sobocinski recorded an RBI, while Sobocinski scored three runs.
Chris Greiner evened his record for the season with his first win. Greiner pitched seven innings allowing two earned runs on five hits. He also struck out two batters, while walking three. Pete Moraski was the only other pitcher for Hartford. He went two innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits, while striking out two.
Amendola gave Hartford a lead it would not give up with a two-out two-RBI double down the left field line in the top of the third inning. Andy Drexel followed with a RBI single to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead. Asheville put the first run on the board in the first inning. Kevin Mattison doubled to right field and scored on an RBI single by Reed Kreiser.
The Bulldogs pulled to within 3-2 in the bottom of the third. Kevin Wiedenbacher led things off with a double and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Justin Schumer. The Hawks then added three more runs in the fourth as they smacked three-straight two out hits. Greiner settled into his lead and did not allow a UNC hit from the third inning until a seventh inning single.
Hartford extended its lead with four runs in the top of the sixth inning. Three of the runs were unearned as six-straight batters reached base after two were out aided by an Asheville error. Eight of Hartford's 11 runs in the game scored with two outs.
