BOONE, N.C. ? Rand Smith's RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning completed Appalachian State University baseball's doubleheader sweep of visiting Samford on Saturday at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. Appalachian won the opener, 6-4, and took the nightcap, 4-3.
Smith, who extended his hitting streak to 21 games with three hits in the twinbill, slapped a 1-0 pitch over the head of Samford second baseman Stephen Ballard and into shallow right field to bring Ryan Arrowood home with the winning run in the nightcap, extending the Mountaineers' season-high winning streak to five games.
Arrowood set up Smith's heroics by leading off the ninth with a pinch-hit single up the middle off SU closer Kyle Nichols (1-2). The freshman advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jerod Faggart and went to third on a groundout to by pinch-hitter Frankie Lewis.
The ninth-inning rally was made possible in the first place by Smith, as the speedy center fielder beat out a infield single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to drive in Nick DeRose from third and knot the game at 4-4.
Appalachian (16-16, 7-11 SoCon) led 2-0 after scoring twice without the benefit of a hit in the third inning. However, Samford (11-23, 7-10 SoCon) responded with a run in the fifth and two in the seventh to take a 3-2 advantage.
Smith also drove in a run on a groundout in the third and finished 2-for-5 with three RBI. His 21-game hitting streak is the longest by a Mountaineer since Brad Peisel hit in 23-straight games in 2005.
In the opener, Wes Hobson went 4-for-4 with four RBI and Matt Andress pitched into the eighth inning to lead the Mountaineers to the 6-4 triumph.
Hobson, who had two doubles among his four hits, gave the Apps the lead for good when he scored on an RBI single by Towarnicky in the fifth inning.
Andress set season highs with his 7.2 innings of work and six strikeouts. He scattered eight hits en route to earning his second win of the season.
In addition to Hobson's 4-for-4 performance, Towarnicky and DeRose chipped in with two hits apiece in the opener.
ASU closer Zach Quate recorded his fifth save of the season in game one and struck out Bulldog cleanup hitter David Schulze with two runners on in the ninth to claim the win in the nightcap and even his record at 1-1.
Bo Smith homered twice in game one and Ballard went 3-for-4 in game two to pace Samford.
Riding a season-best six-game winning streak, Appalachian goes for its first SoCon sweep of the season when it concludes its three-game series with Samford on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Smith Stadium.
