BOONE, N.C. ? Josh Dowdy didn't surrender an earned run in six-plus innings and relievers Chris Patterson and Zach Quate tossed three nearly perfect stanzas out of the bullpen to lead Appalachian State University baseball to a 3-1 win over Georgia Southern on Sunday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

With the win, Appalachian (7-14, 2-9 SoCon) snapped a six-game losing streak and salvaged the finale of a three-game weekend series with Georgia Southern (16-4, 3-1 SoCon). A year ago, ASU started with a 1-9 record in Southern Conference play, but spurred by a triumph over GSU, went on to win 13 of its final 17 conference games and finished 14-13 in league play, giving the program its first back-to-back winning SoCon campaigns in nearly two decades.

The Mountaineers had allowed double-digit runs to the hard-hitting Eagles in each of the first two games of this weekend's series but received a huge boost on Sunday from Dowdy. The right-handed senior kept Georgia Southern hitters off balance for much of the afternoon, surrendering only an unearned run in the fourth inning.

Dowdy cruised into the seventh with a 3-1 lead but developed a painful cramp in his left hamstring while pitching with an 0-2 count to GSU first baseman Eric Phillips. He went on to throw only one more pitch ? which Phillips slapped through the left side for a single ? before being lifted from the game.

Following Dowdy's departure, Patterson induced a fly ball to right field and struck out the final two batters of the seventh to preserve the two-run lead.   

GSU led off the eighth with a single off Patterson, but the right-hander responded with a strikeout, foul out and groundout against the Eagles 3-4-5 hitters to squelch the threat.

Quate came on in the ninth to close out the ballgame and struck out the first batter he faced on three pitches. Georgia Southern then got a single to bring the tying run to the plate for the third time in the final three innings, but the Mountaineers turned a 6-4-3 double play to seal the win.

Appalachian needed every bit of its sterling performances on the mound, as GSU's pitching was nearly as effective. ASU registered only seven hits but was able to plate single runs in the first, third and sixth innings. Isaac Harrow drove in two of the three runs, Rand Smith scored twice and Jerod Faggart blasted a solo homer to lead the offensive effort.

The win evened Dowdy's record at 2-2 while the save was Quate's second of the season. Georgia Southern starter Matt Murray pitched into the eighth but was saddled with all three runs (two earned) and suffered the tough-luck loss to fall to 1-1.

The Mountaineers close a stretch of eight home games in 12 days when they host North Carolina A&T on Tuesday at 3 p.m. GSU returns from a 10-day Carolinas excursion to host Kennesaw State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.