CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Just seven outs away from its first win over a nationally ranked opponent in 27 years, Appalachian State University baseball saw No. 2 North Carolina score five runs in the final two innings and fell, 9-8, on Tuesday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium.

Appalachian (5-7) led 7-4 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but North Carolina (11-2) got an infield single, hit batter and back-to-back home runs by freshman Levi Michael and all-American Dustin Ackley to grab an 8-7 advantage. Bad luck played a part in the four-run UNC seventh, as ASU pitcher Taylor Miller struck out the first two batters he faced in the inning, but was hit on his non-throwing arm by a comebacker on the infield single. He was not injured on the play, but didn't retire another batter before leaving the game after allowing a double to clean-up hitter Kyle Seager following the back-to-back homers.

The Mountaineers came back to even the score at 8-8 in the top of the eighth when Wes Hobson scored from second base on an errant pickoff throw to first by pitcher Colin Bates. However, the Tar Heels plated the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Tarron Robinson. Bates retired the side in order in the ninth to seal the win for the Heels.

Despite the final result, ASU turned in one of its best efforts of the young season in defeat. Seemingly reversing a trend that had seen it outscored 17-10 in the first inning of ballgames this year, Appalachian banged out four hits and scored three times in the top of the first to grab an early 3-0 lead. The first-inning blues returned in the bottom of the stanza, however, as UNC tallied scored three runs of their own to knot the contest at 3-3.

The teams swapped runs in the bottom of the second and top of the third to make it 4-4 before the Apps scored twice in the fourth and once more in the seventh to take the 7-4 advantage.

Catcher Jerod Faggart led the Mountaineers offensively with a 2-for-4 effort that included a two-run single in the first and a solo home run in the third. Isaac Harrow, David Towarnicky and Chris Alessandria also drove in runs for the Black and Gold.

Leadoff hitter Ben Bunting collected three of UNC's 11 hits and scored three runs. Michael drove in three runs, all on his seventh-inning blast.

Chris Patterson was saddled with the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season while Bates upped his record to 2-1 despite blowing the save in the eighth.

Appalachian fell just shy of its first win over a top-25 opponent since it defeated No. 23 The Citadel, 5-4, in 1982 and its first-ever triumph over a top-10 team. The highest-ranked opponent that ASU has ever toppled was No. 14 Wake Forest in 1977.

The Mountaineers get another crack at the second-ranked Tar Heels on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium.