GREENVILLE, S.C. - Appalachian State University baseball battled back from an early deficit on Friday night but was unable to complete the comeback in a 5-3 loss at Furman in the series opener.

After spotting the Paladins (11-14, 5-8 SoCon) a 4-0 lead over the first three innings, Rand Smith led off the fourth with a double and trotted home on Isaac Harrow's seventh home run of the season, cuting the deficit in half. Harrow finished the night 1-for-3 with two runs batted in.

Smith then led off the sixth inning with a solo shot to left-center field to pull the Mountaineers (11-16, 3-11) within a run. Furman then countered with a single score in the bottom of the frame to regain a 5-3 cushion.

Smith was 3-for-4 on the night with two doubles and a pair of runs scored. His longshot was his seventh of the year and fourth in the last six games, while Friday was also his third three-hit game of the year. Cleanup hitter David Towarnicky added a pair of base hits of his own as the top four in the order accounted for six of the team's eight base knocks.

After Chris Patterson struck out four of the first six batters he faced, the Apps put the tying run on base as Smith doubled and Harrow drew a two-out walk in the eighth. A strikeout then ended the ASU threat and doubled the number of runners left on base from two to four for the night. The Mountaineers were retired in order in the ninth to close out the game.

Matt Andress stranded eight runners in the first four frames and allowed just one earned run in 4.1 innings pitched. He took the loss to move to 1-4 on the year after allowing eight hits to go along with a pair of strikeouts and three walks. ASU pitchers combined to leave 13 Paladins on base on the night.

Nick Daniels retired two batters to close out the fifth inning and exited the game after 1.0 innings with two hits and a run. He struck out two and walked one batter in the outing. Patterson surrendered just one hit over 2.2 innings and fanned a season-high five batters. He walked just one batter.

FU's Ian Parry moved to 2-3 on the year with three runs allowed over six innings and Spencer Hale earned his second save of the year with two strikeouts over 1.1 innings.

The series continues on Saturday with a 5 p.m. start. The teams close the weekend on Sunday at 1 p.m.