BOONE, N.C. ? Appalachian State University baseball scored 11 runs over its final three at-bats to rally from an eight-run deficit and defeat East Tennessee State, 15-12, on Tuesday evening at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

The comeback victory extended Appalachian's season-best winning streak to seven games and gave ASU (18-16) 12 wins in its last 14 outings.

The Mountaineers trailed 7-0 after one-and-a-half innings and 12-4 going into the bottom of the sixth but rallied for five runs in the sixth, two in the seventh and four in the eighth to come away with the improbable triumph. 

After cutting the deficit to one run, Wes Hobson led off the decisive eighth inning by reaching base on a throwing error by ETSU shortstop Garrett May. Isaac Harrow followed with a single to left field and David Towarnicky knotted the game at 12-12 with a single through the right side of the infield that scored Hobson from second and moved Harrow to third.

Harrow scored the go-ahead run one pitch later on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Chris Alessandria. The Apps went on to load the bases and added some insurance when Bucs catcher Derek Trent allowed a passed ball and then threw the ball away after retrieving it near the first-base dugout, allowing two more runners to come across the plate.

ASU closer Zach Quate made sure the 15-12 lead stood up in the ninth, as he followed a leadoff walk with a strikeout and double play to earn his seventh save of the season. In the past six games, Quate has recorded a win and five saves while surrendering just two hits and striking out nine in 6.2 innings of work.

Catcher Jerod Faggart led the Mountaineers' 15-run, 14-hit outburst by going 2-for-3 with three runs, three RBI and a two-run homer that snuck inside the right-field foul pole in the fourth inning. Right fielder Jason Wallace also turned in a 2-for-3 effort with three RBI and Rand Smith extended his hitting streak to 23 games ? two shy of the school record ? with a two-run single in the sixth.

Nick Daniels (1-2) worked a hitless eighth to earn his first win of the season.

For ETSU (14-19), Ben Allen was charged with four runs (one earned) in one-third of an inning to fall to 0-2 on the season. Allen led the Bucs offensively, however, with a 2-for-4, five-RBI performance at the plate.

The win was eerily reminiscent of last Tuesday's 9-7 victory at Tennessee, in which Appalachian also surrendered five runs in the first inning but rallied for its first win over UT in 19 years. The triumph over ETSU snapped ASU's five-game losing streak at the hands of its local rival.

Appalachian closes a five-game homestand and tries to extend its winning streak to eight when it hosts Gardner-Webb on Wednesday evening at Smith Stadium. Game time is set for 6 p.m.