ELON, N.C. — Appalachian State University baseball fell into a 5-0 hole after two innings and was never able to climb back in an 11-2 loss to Elon on Sunday afternoon at Latham Park.

After falling into the early 5-0 hole, Appalachian (18-5, 7-2 SoCon) pulled within 5-2 with two runs in the top of the third inning. However, highlighted by a sixth-inning grand slam from cleanup hitter Garrett Koster, Elon (14-11, 8-4 SoCon) scored the game's next six runs to pull away.

Five ASU pitchers combined to allow the season-high 11 runs. Junior southpaw Rob Marcello endured his roughest start as a Mountaineer, allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits in 5.1 innings to suffer his first loss and fall to 3-1 on the campaign.

A 2-for-4 day for Daniel Kassouf was one of the few bright spots for the Mountaineers. With the two hits, which included an RBI single, the senior designated hitter raised his Southern Conference-leading batting average to .427. Jeremy Dowdy also went 2-for-4 to help pace the Apps' seven-hit effort.

Tyler Zupcic and Will Callaway each had a hit to extend their hitting streaks to 16 and 14 games, respectively.

With the defeat, ASU dropped the three-game SoCon series to Elon, two games to one. The series loss was the Mountaineers' first in five weekend sets this season and their eighth in nine regular-season series against Elon since the Phoenix joined the SoCon in 2003-04.

Appalachian returns to action on Tuesday when it opens four-game homestand versus North Carolina A&T. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at ASU's Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.