Bulldogs Play Host To UNC-Asheville Sunday

Sunday, October 14

Athens Ga.

2:00 PM

University of Georgia

EXH - UNC Asheville

Photo by: Steffenie Burns

October 08, 2018 | Baseball

ATHENS-----Georgia will play host to UNC-Asheville in a free exhibition at Foley Field this Sunday at 2 p.m.

Seating at Foley Field for the exhibition will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Restrooms will be open, however the concession stands will be closed. Fans can bring in snacks and non-alcoholic beverages. The game likely will last 14 innings to try and get everyone a bit of playing time. Also, fans will have a chance to catch Georgia t-shirts and beanie babies that the Diamond Darlings will be tossing to the crowd a few times during the exhibition.

This year, the NCAA is allowing schools to play two fall exhibition games, and they will not count against the 56-game spring schedule. Last month in their first planned 14-inning exhibition, the Bulldogs posted a 4-2 win over North Georgia. Junior Cam Shepherd smashed a solo home run to put Georgia in front while Patrick Sullivan and Cole Tate collected RBI-singles and Connor Tate notched an RBI on a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring. With two on and nobody out and Georgia leading 1-0 in the seventh, Bulldog junior third baseman Aaron Schunk turned an unassisted double play to thwart a scoring chance by the Nighthawks. Georgia employed 11 pitchers in the 14-inning affair with junior Tony Locey tossing two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts in a starting role.

Georgia is in its sixth year under Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin. The 2018 Bulldogs earned a final top 20 national ranking after going 39-21 including 18-12 in the Southeastern Conference. Georgia was a national No. 8 seed and played host to an NCAA Regional where it reached the final to cap its finest year in a decade.

Asheville is coached by Scott Friedholm who is in his fifth season. The Bulldogs posted a 13-38 record last season including 8-19 in the Big South Conference. They return a handful of starters from the 2018 club plus have added 11 newcomers. Senior two-way player Danny Wilson returns as the team's leading hitter as he batted .293 with a pair of home runs and 24 RBI last year. Also, junior infielder Brandon Lankford is the top power hitter back after tallying eight home runs and 26 RBI to go with a .266 batting average in 2018.

Georgia will conclude practice with the annual Fall Red and Black World Series slated for Nov. 1-3. Those three scrimmages will be free and open to the public. The 2019 season begins Feb. 15 with a three-game series against Dayton at Foley Field.