CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Appalachian State University baseball suffered a series of bad breaks in the final three innings to drop Sunday's finale of a three-game Southern Conference series to Western Carolina, 4-3.

Appalachian (5-6, 0-5 SoCon) fell into a 4-2 hole after six innings but appeared to cut the deficit in half in the top of the seventh. With the bases loaded and two outs, Rand Smith got himself hung up in a rundown between first and second base, allowing Jason Wallace to score from third. However, the third-base umpire came across the field to rule that Smith was out on the play, erasing the run and ending the ASU threat.

The lost run became even more critical in the top of the eighth when left fielder Chris Alessandria belted a home run to left field, this time officially cutting the WCU lead to 4-3.

The Mountaineers put a runner on in the ninth against Catamount closer Daniel Ottone when Wallace walked with one out. Nick DeRose followed with a line drive that was snagged by Western shortstop Brent Greer. Greer then fired to first and the first-base umpire ruled that the throw beat Wallace back to the bag for a game-ending double play.

Isaac Harrow led the way for the Apps, going 3-for-4 with a run to up his batting average to .408 on the season. Alessandria drove in both ASU runs.

Once again, it was second baseman Nick Liles that did the lion's share of the damage for Western Carolina (8-2, 3-0 SoCon), going 2-for-4 with what turned out to be the game-winning two-run homer in the fifth inning. Liles had multiple hits in all three games of the weekend series and finished a combined 8-for-14 with five RBI and five runs scored.

ASU starter Aubrey Edens was saddled with the loss despite a fine six-inning performance to fall to 0-1. WCU's Corey Martin out-dueled Edens by scattering six hits and striking out seven over 6.2 innings of work.

The road doesn't get any easier for Appalachian this week when it travels for a two-game mid-week series at No. 3 North Carolina. Game times are set for 3 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at UNC's Boshamer Stadium.