DAVIDSON, N.C. -Chris Alessandria drove in five runs and Isaac Harrow had a career-high-tying five hits and scored four runs to lead Appalachian State University baseball to a 15-5 win over Davidson in the finale of a rain-shortened Southern Conference series on Sunday at Wilson Field. The victory salvaged a split of the two-game series for Appalachian after it fell 9-8 on a walk-off home run in Sunday's conclusion of Game One.
After being limited to eight hits in the series opener, Appalachian (9-15, 3-10 SoCon) exploded for 17 off eight Davidson pitchers in the finale. ASU scored in six of the game's first seven innings and never trailed en route to its highest scoring output in conference action since it scored 16 in last year's regular season-finale at Wofford.
Rand Smith opened the outburst with a solo homer to left center on the second pitch from the game. The Apps' offensive production snowballed from there, as they went on to score two runs in the first, one in the third, three in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth and six in the seventh.
Alessandria finished with a pair of RBI doubles and a three-run homer in the 3-for-5, five-RBI effort and Harrow doubled twice in his 5-for-5 performance. Harrow's five hits were the most by a Mountaineer this season.
David Towarnicky chipped in with three RBI, Wes Hobson added three hits and Jerod Faggart also homered in the victory.
Aubrey Edens (1-2) surrendered only four hits and struck out five in six innings of work to earn his first win of the season.
The victory helped wash the bad taste of the first game's heart-breaking finish out of the Mountaineers' mouths, as they came back from deficits of 7-2 and 8-5 only to fall on Chase FitzPatrick's walk-off homer to left center.
The contest started on Saturday and was tied at 2-2 after four innings when play was suspended due to rain. Davidson burst out of the gates when the game resumed on Sunday, scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth to grab the 7-2 advantage.
ASU answered with three runs in the top of the sixth to cut it to 7-5. The damage could have been even worse if not for a stroke of bad luck when Hobson belted a two-out, two-run ground-rule double. Had the ball not bounced over the right-field fence, Smith would have easily scored from first base, but the dead ball sent him back to third base, where he was eventually stranded.
Davidson (10-11, 5-4 SoCon) stretched its lead back to three with a run in the seventh, but Smith and Harrow hit back-to-back bombs in the eighth ? Smith's being a two-run job ? to knot the score at 8-8.
It remained 8-8 until the bottom of the ninth when FitzPatrick hit his game-winner off ASU closer Zach Quate. The homer was the first allowed by Quate all season while the earned run was only his second of the year.
The series was shortened to two games due to rain that washed out action on Friday night and much of Saturday.
Appalachian closes a four-game road stand on Tuesday when it visits UNC Asheville. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at historic McCormick Field in Asheville.
