Mountaineer Offense Explodes In 13-3 Win At Western Carolina
CULLOWHEE, N.C. — With its biggest early inning outburst in six years, Appalachian State rolled to a 13-3 victory at Western Carolina on Tuesday.
The Mountaineers (3-4) scored twice in the top of the first inning, four times in the second inning and four times in the third inning to claim a 10-1 lead on the road against the Catamounts (1-7). Designated hitter Jason Avers and catcher Riley Smith finished with four RBIs apiece, and Conner Leonard hit a solo homer in the eighth inning.
"We took advantage of a couple mistakes on their part and turned it into a lot of positives on our part," App State head coach Kermit Smith said. "It was nice to see us show up that way. It was very similar to the way we came out Saturday against Wilmington."
It was the first time App State reached double figures in the first three innings of a game since the 2012 team that won a conference championship and reached an NCAA Regional scored 10 runs in the first three innings of a 15-4 win against Rider. That victory included a nine-run third inning.
The offensive explosion created a favorable cushion for starting pitcher Travis Holden, who improved to 2-0 on the season by allowing two runs on eight hits and striking out six batters in six innings. The Mountaineers' starting pitchers have a 2.58 ERA this year, as Holden allowed no earned runs over five innings in his first start.
"He was fantastic," Smith said. "It was nice to throw up a couple runs for him so he could throw up a few zeroes," Smith said.
Holden received plenty of run support Tuesday on a warm, sunny day at Hennon Stadium.
Avers had three run-producing plate appearances and, with the help of a two-run double, four RBIs as six Mountaineers registered at least one RBI and eight of them posted at least one hit in the first three innings.
Avers ended up 2-for-5 with one walk, and Riley Smith was 2-for-3 with two doubles, three runs scored and two walks. Leonard and Alex Leshock also finished with two hits.
Bailey Welch (walk), Joel McDaniel (error) and Smith (walk) loaded the bases with no outs in the first before Avers brought Welch home with a fielder's choice and Leonard delivered an RBI single.
App State took a 2-1 lead into the second inning and strung together five straight one-out hits to claim a 6-1 advantage. Singles by Leshock and Welch set up an RBI double from McDaniel and a two-run double inside the bag at third from Smith, who scored on an RBI single from Avers.
An inning later, singles by Beau Myers and Calev Grubbs preceded Leshock's RBI double inside the bag at first. Grubbs scored on a groundout from Welch, and Avers drilled his two-run double into the left-center gap.
The Mountaineers increased their lead to 12-2 on Smith's two-run double in the seventh inning. Tristan Helms and freshman Cameron Kepley combined for a scoreless bottom of the seventh, Kepley capped his Appalachian debut with a scoreless eighth and redshirt sophomore Andrew Papp made his Appalachian debut by pitching the ninth.
Off the bench, catcher Bradley Davis celebrated his birthday by throwing out a potential base stealer in his first inning of work, and right fielder Robert Langdon had two putouts.
App State returns to action Friday at 4 p.m. with its 2018 home opener against Marshall, which is traveling to Boone for a three-game series. After that series concludes, the Mountaineers will face SEC foe South Carolina on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Charlotte's BB&T Ballpark.
Season tickets can be purchased by clicking HERE for the App State Ticket Central site, by calling the Appalachian State athletics ticket office at (828) 262-2079 or by going to the ticket office, located at the Holmes Center, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
Eagles Tame Bulldogs 9-3 to Open Low Country Swing
CHARLESTON, S.C. – It was a slow start for the Eagle offense who failed to score in the opening five frames on Tuesday against The Citadel. Georgia Southern scored nine runs in the final four trips to the plate to score a 9-3 win over take a non-conference win over the Bulldogs. The win opens a two-game midweek swing through the Low Country of South Carolina which concludes on Wednesday afternoon in a 4 p.m. tilt against College of Charleston.
Chandler Corley led the way offensively for the Eagles with a 3-for-5 game, scoring a pair of runs and driving in four tallies in the contest. Christian Avant also had a three-hit game, legging out a triple to right and driving in a run while scoring three of his own.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Rodney Hennon
"We didn't do much offensively for the first half of the game. Our starting pitcher Griffin Davis settled in there after giving up a run in the first, and it was big for him to get us through five innings. Zach Cowart did a good job for us, but got some tough luck, a few balls that weren't hit hard got through, but he continued to make good pitches. We finished it off late, Christian Avant had some big at bats for us, and it was a good way to start this two game midweek trip. We've still got to play better tomorrow, there were a lot of mistakes out there, but thankfully we were able to overcome them."
SCORING PLAYS
Bottom 1st - The Citadel earned an early lead with a two walks and a hit to load the bases with one out in the frame. A sacrifice fly plated the
Top 6th - Walks to Steven Curry and Roury Glanton came around to score after reaching base on walks. Curry moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and came around to score with a pair of two out wild pitches. Glanton, who reached after Curry scored, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and came in to score with an error by the Bulldog third baseman.
Bottom 6th - The Bulldogs logged two hits in the sixth along with a walk to tie the game again at 2-2.
Top 7th - Georgia Southern got a pair of hits to start the seventh and loaded the bases when Curry was hit by a pitch. A wild pitch got past the Bulldog backstop and the Eagles re-took the lead, 3-2.
Top 8th - The Eagles got their first RBI of the game in a three run eighth inning thanks to a Christian Avant triple that plated Jeddediah Fagg. A pair of infield fielder's choices allowed two more runs to score and push the lead to 6-2.
Bottom 8th - The Citadel converted a leadoff double in the eighth for a single run to cut the lead to 6-3 entering the final end.
Top 9th - A three-run home run by Chandler Corley in the ninth inning capped the game as the senior hit his first long ball in a Georgia Southern uniform.
A-State Baseball Blanks MVSU 9-0
JONESBORO, Ark. (2/27/18) – The Arkansas State pitching staff was able to shut out Mississippi Valley State while the offense put up two big innings in a 9-0 victory Tuesday night at Tomlinson Stadium.
A-State (3-2) put up four runs in the bottom of the first off Mississippi Valley State (0-5) starter Zac Uecker with the first coming home on a Kyle MacDonald single. Casey Vaughan followed by roping a single to centerfield to score two more before Cullen Ray posted his first career RBI on a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring.
However, the Red Wolves wouldn’t get back on the scoreboard until a five-run seventh to extend their lead to 9-0. A-State scored the five runs with the help of only one hit, a two-run double by Jacob Jablonski. The other three runs scored on bases-loaded walks to Logan Andersen and Ray, while a sacrifice fly from Drew Tipton plated the last run.
Nate Alberius was fantastic for the Red Wolves on the mound for his first career victory after he spun seven shutout innings with no walks, nine strikeouts, and four hits allowed. Tanner Kirby struck out the side in the eighth, while Bryan Ayers tossed a scoreless ninth in his first appearance of the season.
MacDonald and Grant Hawkins led the team with two hits apiece, while Hawkins tied a career high with three stolen bases. Vaughan, Ray, and Jablonski each drove in two runs.
Aaron Barkley led the Delta Devils with two hits, while Uecker took the loss after the rough first inning. Uecker was able to settle down and throw six innings with seven hits allowed, six walks, and five punch outs.
A-State and Mississippi Valley State are scheduled to wrap up the two-game midweek series tomorrow after at 4 p.m.
NO. 18 AUBURN DEFEATS NO. 11 JAG BASEBALL IN FRONT OF RECORD CROWD
MOBILE, Ala. – No. 18 Auburn scored four runs in the top of the eighth inning en route to a 7-6 win over No. 11 University of South Alabama baseball Tuesday at Stanky Field.
Auburn (9-0) faced a one-run deficit after seven frames, but rallied for four runs in the top-half of the eighth for the eventual game-winning runs.
South Alabama (7-2) will return to action this weekend when it travels to Lubbock, Texas, for a four-game series with No. 3 Texas Tech, beginning with game one Friday at 6:30 p.m.
GAME FACTS
- Auburn took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-out RBI single to center field by Josh Anthony.
- The Tigers doubled their lead in the top of the second on an RBI single to center field by Will Holland for a 2-0 advantage.
- USA threatened in the bottom of the third, but could not produce a run. Dylan Hardy tripled to the left-center gap with one out in the inning. Travis Swaggerty drew a two-out walk to put runners at the corners for Brendan Donovan, but AU left-hander Andrew Mitchell ended the threat with an inning-ending flyout to left field.
- Auburn extended its lead to three runs in the top of the fourth. Luke Jarvis reached on a two-out error, advanced to second on a single to center field by Steven Williams, and scored on an RBI single to left field by Brendan Venter.
- USA responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a one-run lead. Paul Russo singled down the left field line with two outs, and advanced to second on a single to left-center field by Swaggerty. A fielding error by AU left fielder Conor Davis allowed both runners to move into scoring position before a balk by Auburn left-hander Welby Malczewski scored Russo from third to cut the Tiger lead to 3-1. Wells Davis followed with an RBI single to left field to score Swaggerty and cut the AU lead to 3-2. A walk by Carter Perkins loaded the bases with two outs for Michael Sandle, who delivered a two-run single to center field for a 4-3 Jaguar lead.
- Auburn tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the eighth on a one-out RBI single down the left field line by Brett Wright. Jarvis delivered a three-run home run to left field later in the inning for a 7-4 Tiger lead.
- USA answered with the game's final runs in the bottom of the eighth. Sandle singled to center field to lead off the inning, and moved to second on a walk by Deyvid Sivla. Hunter Stokes followed with a two-run double to left-center field to score Sandle and Silva.
NOTES
- Auburn snapped a three-game losing skid in the series, and ended a five-game losing streak at Stanky Field with the win.
- Official attendance for the game was 4,508, which is the largest crowd to ever witness a game at Stanky Field. Tuesday's attendance broke the program's previous single-game record of 4,437, which came in 2009 against Alabama.
- Sandle went 3-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored to lead South Alabama at the plate. Davis finished 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and one run scored, and Swaggerty went 2-for-2 with a double, one run scored and three walks. Stokes doubled and drove in two runs.
- Auburn left-hander Elliott Anderson (2-0) allowed two runs on one hit with two strikeouts and one walk in one inning pitched to earn the win. Right-hander Cody Greenhill tossed two scoreless relief innings, and allowed two hits with a pair of strikeouts and two walks to record his first career save.
- Jaguar right-hander Chase Shell (0-1) allowed two runs on one hit with one strikeout against one walk in 3 1/3 relief innings pitched.
- The loss snapped a six-game Jaguar home winning streak dating back to last season.
- USA's all-time series lead fell to 50-25 with the loss.
- Swaggerty extended his hitting streak to seven games, and extended his on-base streak to nine.
Trojans Fall to Cowboys in Rain-Shortened Contest
STILLWATER, Okla. – In a rain-shortened game, Little Rock baseball fell 9-2 to Oklahoma State on Tuesday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
In six innings of action, the Trojans (4-4) had a rough go of it on the mound as they gave up nine walks and two hit-by-pitches. Starter McKinley Moore took his second loss of the year after two innings on the mound as he gave up five runs (four earned) on two hits and four walks.
Justin Garcia followed him in relief with the bases loaded and no outs. After striking out the first batter, Garcia walked in the next one to give the Cowboys (5-1) another run. On a would-be inning-ending double play, shortstop Matt Merino made a throwing error to first on the relay. This scored two Oklahoma State runs and broke the game open at 6-1.
Marcus Ragan, Riley Pittman, Merino and Nick Perez all went 1-for-3 at the plate while Kale Emshoff went 1-for-1 with a walk.
Perez tallied the first run of the game in the top of the second inning with a monster solo shot over the left-center wall — his second on the year.
Little Rock tried to gain momentum in the fifth with a two-out liner from Ragan that bounced off the pitcher's glove. His hustle beat out the throw to first to put a man on with two outs. Pittman then stepped into the box and ripped a shot into the left-center gap to score Ragan from first. Pittman tried to turn it into a triple, but he was tagged out to end the inning.
The Cowboys put the game away in the bottom of the sixth with two more runs to take a 9-2 lead. With the bases loaded and two outs, Little Rock walked in an Oklahoma State run before the second run scored on a passed ball.
Little Rock will look to even the two-game midweek series on Wednesday at 4 p.m.