Photo credit: Kennedy Rodriquez
With Charlotte set to take a trip up to Blacksburg to challenge 11th ranked Virginia tech this weekend, they picked up their first midweek win of the year with a 13-8 final score at home on Tuesday Night against UNC Asheville. For the first two weeks of the season, Charlotte has gone without highly touted outfielder Jake Cunningham due to an ankle injury, on Tuesday night he
made his return to the lineup. Cunningham, a .300 hitter a year ago, is a big piece to a lineup that from top to bottom is still trying to reach its full potential. Though seemingly playing through an ankle that isn’t quite 100% and still in a brace, the Niners are certainly happy to have him back as they’ll need him this weekend.
Don’t Pitch to Cam Fisher
Cam Fisher didn’t hit his first home run of the year until game two of the Army series, this past Saturday, he now has five. That’s 5 home runs in 3 games, 8 RBIs to go with it. There’s nobody hotter in the country than Cam Fisher, something the Niners desperately needed since Austin Knight tweaked his hamstring against Army in game 1. 2 of the 5 homers came last night against the Bulldogs, both absolutely launched. His second of the night hit ¾ of the way up the batter’s eye in center field, if not for that, the ball may have never landed. Fisher hit 18 home runs a year ago, to that standard he hadn’t gotten off to the best start, just two hits in 5 games. That goes to show just how fast things can change in this sport, it will be of no surprise if Fisher doesn’t get much to hit this weekend. If he does, sit back and enjoy.
A Tall Task in Blacksburg
Charlotte will square off with their first ranked team since early April of last year. Virginia Tech sits at 6-2 with series wins against Bryant and College of Charleston, taking 2 out of 3 in each. Charlotte will have to find a way to slow down the Virginia Tech bats as they’ve put up double digits in 5 of their 8 games so far. Charlotte’s pitching has shown signs of being one of the deeper staffs in the country, but can they stifle one of the best teams in the country enough to allow Charlotte to find their groove on offense? That will be the key if Charlotte wants to go on the road and take the upset in yet another big time out of conference series.
Game 1 will start at 2:00PM on Friday afternoon on ACCNX, followed by 2:00PM on Saturday, wrapped up on Sunday at 1:00PM again on ACCNX.