CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Seniors Rand Smith and Isaac Harrow each homered twice but it wasn't enough for Appalachian State University baseball in a wild 14-11 loss to Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Hennon Stadium.

Appalachian (5-5, 0-4 SoCon) and Western Carolina (7-2, 2-0 SoCon) combined for 25 runs, 26 hits, six doubles, eight home runs and six errors in the slugfest. Homers accounted for half of ASU's 10 hits while WCU banged out 16 hits to help overcome its four errors in the field.

The Mountaineers managed only two hits in the first three innings, compared to nine for the Catamounts during the same span, but the Apps' hits were solo homers by Harrow in the first inning and Smith in the third that kept ASU within striking distance at 4-2.

Thanks in large part to three WCU errors, Appalachian needed just two hits ? an RBI single from catcher Jerod Faggart and a three-run bomb by Smith ? to put five runs on the board in top of the fourth inning and grab a 7-4 lead.  

The lead was short-lived, however, as Western responded with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to regain the advantage at 11-7. A grand slam by designated hitter Stephen Notaro ? his second long ball of the afternoon ? put WCU back on top for good.

Wes Hobson got the Mountaineers back within one with a three-run homer in the fifth but that would be as close as they would get as the Catamounts answered yet again with a pair of runs in the bottom of the stanza to stretch their lead to 13-10.

The teams swapped single runs ? the Apps' on another solo blast by Harrow in the sixth and the Cats' on an RBI single by Trevor Collias in the eighth ? to account for the final margin.

Hobson, Smith and Harrow ? the first three hitters in ASU's batting order ? combined to go 6-for-15 with five home runs, 10 RBI and six runs scored. Hobson and Smith drove in four runs apiece and Harrow notched a team-best three hits.

For WCU, Nick Liles fell just a double short of hitting for the cycle and finished 4-for-6 with three RBI and three runs. Notaro drove in five runs and Collias chipped in with three hits.

Appalachian's Andrew Webster suffered his first loss to fall to 3-1 on the season. Western's Brandon Johnson allowed only one run in 2.1 innings of relief to earn his first win of the campaign.

Appalachian will try to salvage the finale of the three-game series on Sunday at 2 p.m.