JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. ? Appalachian State University baseball stranded 13 base runners, including nine in the final four innings, in a 5-3 loss to East Tennessee State on Wednesday evening at Cardinal Park.

Eleven Mountaineers reached base in the final four innings of the ballgame but Appalachian (6-12) could only push two across the plate, leaving the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh, stranding runners on second and third in the eighth and ending the game with a runner on first and the tying run at bat in the ninth.

ETSU (7-6) did the lion's share of its damage in the fifth when, helped by two Mountaineer errors, it scored three runs to snap a 1-1 tie and take a 4-1 lead.

The teams traded runs in the sixth and the Mountaineers scored again in the seventh to cut the deficit to two. However, they left their final six runners of the game on base and fell for the ninth time in 10 games.

The dearth of scoring overshadowed another fine mid-week performance by the ASU pitching staff. Six hurlers combined to scatter nine hits and strike out 13.

Designated hitter Jerod Faggart went 2-for-4 and second baseman Wes Hobson hit a mammoth home run to lead the Mountaineers offensively. Despite the fact that eight of the nine players in Wednesday's starting lineup recorded hits, the Apps' scored less than four runs for the fourth game in a row.

Paul Hoilman and Ben Allen had two hits apiece for the Bucs.

Appalachian looks to snap its four-game slide and get back in the Southern Conference race when it hosts first-place Georgia Southern for a three-game series this weekend. Game times are set for 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at ASU's Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.