BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University baseball finished off its first Southern Conference series sweep of the season with a 7-5 victory over visiting Davidson on Sunday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

With the three-game sweep, Appalachian (22-7-1) evened its conference record at 7-7-1 and capped an 8-1 homestand. Davidson fell to 13-9 (4-13 SoCon) with its 12th-straight loss.

Freshmen Nathan Hyatt and Hector Crespo keyed the ASU victory. Making his first-career start on the mound, Hyatt didn't give up a hit until the fifth inning while Crespo collected three of the Mountaineers' eight hits in the triumph.

Having never worked more than 4.2 innings in his 10 collegiate appearances out of the bullpen, Hyatt (2-0) appeared to fatigue a bit in the fifth and sixth innings but still limited Davidson to three runs on only three hits while striking out nine to earn the win.

Hyatt benefitted from a Mountaineer offense that staked him to a 5-0 lead before he surrendered his first hit. The Apps scored once in the second, three times in the third and plated one more run in the fourth to grab the commanding 5-0 advantage. A two-run single by catcher Jeremy Dowdy in the third inning highlighted the early outburst.

The Wildcats chipped away with two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to cut the deficit to 5-3 but Appalachian scored twice more in the bottom of the sixth to take an insurmountable 7-3 advantage. Crespo drove in one of the two runs with an RBI single to right center and Doug Jones scored the second when DC shortstop Michael Zeblo dropped the ball while attempting to tag Crespo, who was trying to stretch the run-scoring hit into a double.

Davidson made it interesting with two more runs in the eighth but ASU closer Chris Patterson slammed the door on the Wildcats with a perfect ninth. Patterson's 10th save of the season (just one shy of matching the single-season school record) capped a spectacular week for the senior right-hander. Patterson closed out each of Appalachian's last four games, going 1-0 with three saves and 13 strikeouts over 5.2 scoreless innings.

Crespo snapped out of an 0-for-9 slump with hits in each of his final three at-bats on Sunday, finishing the afternoon 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored to pace the Mountaineers offensively.

Davidson starter Thomas Middour (1-2) was roughed up for five runs (four earned) in three innings and suffered the loss. Sam Payne collected two of the Wildcats' seven hits.

Appalachian hits the road for the first time in over two weeks when it travels to High Point for a non-conference affair on Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.