BOONE, N.C. ? Appalachian State University baseball jumped out to a 7-0 lead but Georgia Southern scored 10 unanswered runs to close out the game and hand ASU a 10-7 loss on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

Appalachian (6-14, 1-9 SoCon) scored three runs in the first inning and four in the third en route to the early 7-0 advantage.

Things couldn't have started any better for the Mountaineers, who got a leadoff double from Rand Smith and went on to bat around in the three-run first, chasing GSU starter Andy Moye after just one-third of an inning. David Towarnicky and Chris Alessandria each drove in runs and Isaac Harrow came home on a wild pitch to account for the scoring.

ASU benefited from an error, three wild pitches and a passed ball in the four-run third but freshman catcher Jeremy Dowdy provided the most damage with a towering two-run home run to left field that made it 7-0.

However, the seven-run lead evaporated in just two innings, as the Eagles scored four runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth to knot it up at 7-7. After not registering a base hit through three stanzas, the Eagles exploded for eight in the fourth and fifth, the biggest being a two-run homer by Ty Wright that evened the score.

Georgia Southern (16-3, 3-0 SoCon) grabbed its first lead of the afternoon when Kevin Bowles scored an unearned run on a passed ball in the sixth and padded the advantage with single tallies in the eighth and ninth. Two of GSU's final three runs were unearned, as an ASU error led to the eighth-inning score.

After managing to put only two runners on base in innings four through eight, the Mountaineers loaded the bases and brought the winning run to the plate with one out in the ninth. However, GSU's Kyle Kamppi ended the threat by coming on to strike out the final two batters of the ballgame.

Michael Hester (2-0), who was the first of four Georgia Southern relievers that held Appalachian scoreless over the final six innings, earned the win with 1.1 innings of hitless work. Kamppi recorded his third save of the season with the two strikeouts in the ninth.

Nick Daniels (0-2) suffered the tough-luck loss for ASU, as he was charged with the unearned run in the sixth that turned out to be the game-winner.

Appalachian looks to snap a six-game losing streak and salvage the finale of this weekend's three-game Southern Conference series when it squares off with Georgia Southern again on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Smith Stadium.