3J0.2011 I The Blue Banner I 11 Dustin Stuart - Asst. Photography Editor UNC Asheville pitcher Tommy Houmard hurls a pitch against Coastal Carolina on Sunday. ngpearso@unca.edu - Sports Editor First it was Matt Dickey’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer that upset them. Then, it was men’s basketball’s dominant 60-47 victory in the Big South Confer ence Tournament that brought tears to their eyes. Now, it’s baseball’s turn to shake up Coastal Carolina University. On day two of their three-day home series last weekend, the baseball team pulled out a 3-2 win to end the Chanticleers’ 36- game Big South winning streak. Before Saturday, Coastal had not lost since the 2009 season. The victory, captured in the ninth inning thanks to freshman Nick Collazo’s drawn walk with bases loaded, also snapped the Bulldogs’ four-year winning drought against them. “We’ve been on the other end of that streak, but the best way I can sum it up is talking to Cat- lin Carter after the game and he said it was the most fun he had had here in the last four years,” Head Coach Tom Smith said. Coastal, ranked No. 29 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll, returned to Greenwood field on Sunday, only to see his tory repeat itself. Inning after inning. Coastal performed and UNC Asheville answered back - until the 12th. Loading the bases, the Bulldogs watched, rally caps and all, as Collazo scored yet another game-winning play. “To beat Coastal once was awesome, but to beat them twice in walk-off fashion is something I’ll never forget,” Collazo said. Smashing a line drive straight down the middle, Collazo, by far the hero of the weekend, opened up the play for senior Catlin Carter to bring himself home. “Nick (Collazo) has been swinging the bat better of late,” Smith said. “Earlier on, he was looking a bit overwhelmed by college baseball, but he’s proba bly been the hottest hitter we’ve had over the last three weeks.” The Bulldogs walked off with a 7-6 victory, a cheering fan sec tion and their first win against Coastal since 2007. Increasing their record to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in BSC play, the team’s next five games are played on the road. “As well as we played, I think all our players know what they’re capable of, so any effort less than what we put in this weekend will be a disappoint ment,” Smith said. Sports Profile Mattie Weingarten mfweinga@unca.edu - Staff Writer For sophomore Adrien Langeard, tennis is more than a pastime or a meal ticket. It is a way of life. “Tennis is my balance. I feel good when I play well, and I feel bad when I don’t,” he said. Hailing from Caen, France, Langeard has not been on the UNC Asheville tennis team long. However, he’s managed to make quite an impact. He began the 2010 season at the top spot, but an injury early on prevented him from playing singles for much of the season. He achieved a 7-6 singles re cord, with three of the wins be ing conference victories. He and teammate Thomas Rees finished with a 9-8 doubles record. This season, the duo has proven nearly unbeatable, with a 12-1 record. In addition, he’s 10-2 in singles play. Head Coach Lise Gregory said Langeard is one of the most consistent players on the team. “Adrien is a fighter on the court. He works very hard, and he’s positive and feisty,” said teammate Matthew Waissen. It has not been an easy road for Langeard. As well as adjust ing to a new university and a new country, his freshman sea son was plagued with numerous injuries, making it difficult for him to reach his potential. “I’ve had trouble with arm injuries. Injuries can ruin your confidence because they can prevent you from playing, so when you come back you play really bad and need time to get back on track,” he said. Despite Langeard’s enviable accomplishments, he is any thing but complacent. Dissatis fied with his achievements, he constantly strives to improve. “I feel like I haven’t done any thing great in America yet, but it will come. My record this year is not bad, but I would like it to be better because the two guys I lost to this year were beatable. In France, I won a couple of good tournaments, but wasn’t happy with that either,” he said. Of course, no athlete can ac complish much without help and encouragement. Langeard cites several inspirations, both personal and athletic, with sistency to tennis :■ • . ' '■V Rachael Fisher - Staff Photographer see FRENCH on page 12 Sophomore Adrien Langeard is 12-1 in doubles action so far.

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view