CHARLESTON, S.C. — Appalachian State University baseball advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Baseball Tournament for the first time in nine years with a convincing 10-6 victory over College of Charleston on Friday afternoon at Riley Park.

Seventh-seeded Appalachian (37-17-1), which hadn't been among the SoCon Tournament's final four teams since 2001, advances to play No. 6 seed and archrival Western Carolina on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Should ASU down WCU on Saturday morning, the teams will play again on Saturday at 5 p.m. for a spot in Sunday's championship game.

The loss eliminated second-seeded College of Charleston (42-17) from the SoCon Tournament but the Cougars, ranked among the nation's top 30 teams in the latest RPI rankings, will almost certainly continue their season as an at-large entrant in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Friday's contest had all the makings of a slugfest early on, as the clubs combined for 11 runs over the first three innings of the game and Charleston led, 6-5.

Appalachian regained the lead at 7-6 in the top of the fourth on back-to-back RBI singles from David Towarnicky and Jeremy Dowdy.

They would never relinquish the advantage thanks to sterling performances on the mound over the final six innings of the game.

ASU starter Ryan Arrowood, who was roughed up for six runs over the first three innings, settled into a groove in the fourth and went on to retire 10 of the next 11 batters he faced.

Trailing 10-6 in the bottom of the seventh, CofC's first two batters of the inning reached base, putting the potential tying run on deck and prompting ASU head coach Chris Pollard to bring in Will Helms in relief of Arrowood.

Helms wasted no time in getting out of the potential jam, striking out Greg Blake and getting Mountaineer nemesis Jose Rodriguez to ground into a 6-4-3 double play that squelched the threat.

The Cougars started to mount a rally again in the eighth when it loaded the bases with one out. This time, Pollard turned to Taylor Miller, who, like Helms, induced an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to kill the threat.

Miller, who needed only one pitch to get out of the jam in the eighth, got the final three outs in the ninth to seal the Mountaineer victory. The save was the junior's second in 61 career appearances and his first since picking up a three-inning save in a 9-3 win over Gardner-Webb as a freshman in 2008.

Despite the impressive relief efforts by Helms and Miller, Arrowood was the story of the day for ASU. Making just his second start versus a SoCon foe since April 4, the sophomore held Charleston's potent lineup scoreless over the final three innings of his outing. In all, he scattered 11 hits over six innings but didn't issue any walks and struck out five to move to 8-4 on the campaign.

Every member of the Mountaineers' starting lineup scored a run and 7-of-9 picked up hits in their 10-run, 13-hit outburst. Tyler Zupcic led the attack, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Towarnicky and Jack Myers drove in two runs apiece.

College of Charleston banged out 12 hits, led by two apiece from Blake and Rodriguez, but committed four errors in the loss.