SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Appalachian State University baseball
finished off a three-game sweep of Southern Conference rival Wofford
with a 6-0 win on Sunday at Russell C. King Field at Switzer Stadium.
The Mountaineers (32-9, 16-5 SoCon) picked up their 13th-straight
victory against the Terriers (17-26, 5-16 SoCon) and have swept four
consecutive three-game series against Wofford. ASU also picked up its
first conference road-series win this year after dropping two-of-three
in each of its previous two SoCon road series.
In what turned out to be a pitcher's duel early, the Apps would snag an early 1-0 lead when
Preston Troutman led off the third inning with a walk before advancing
to third on an error and scoring on sacrifice fly from
Brandon Burris.
Rob Marcello
held the Terriers without a hit until the bottom of the third when James
Foster broke up the no-hitter with a single to center.
Wofford would find itself in position to tie the contest when David
Roney drew a one-out walk and stole second with two outs in the fifth to
put himself in scoring position, but Marcello would induce a groundout
to end the inning and keep the one-run lead intact.
Will Callaway led off the sixth with a single with and advanced to second on
Daniel Kassouf's groundout to first.
A
Tyler Tewell single would put Callaway on third before
Jeremy Dowdy put the Mountaineers up 2-0 with a single to center field.
Appalachian would tack on two more runs in the top of the seventh
after back-to-back singles and an error put runners on second and third
with no outs. Burris singled up the middle in the next at bat to plate
two and make it 4-0 in favor of the Apps.
The Mountaineers nearly scored a third run in the inning on a double
steal attempt, but Burris was thrown out at home after Callaway was
called safe at second base before Dowdy popped out to end the inning.
Wofford would find itself in position to cut into the lead when a
two-out walk and a single put runners on first and second, but Marcello
induced yet another groundball to short to end the seventh.
Hector Crespo and Burris would plate two more runs for the Apps in the eighth. Crespo doubled to right center to bring
Noah Holmes home before Burris' single sent Crespo across the plate to make it 6-0.
Appalachian's bullpen would shut things down from there as
Jamie Nunn tossed two solid innings in relief to extend ASU's winning streak to seven games.
Marcello (6-3) picked up the win by allowing just two hits with eight
strikeouts and two walks over 7.0 innings of work. Nunn allowed just one
baserunner in his appearance while recording three strikeouts.
Burris led the Apps at the plate on the day with four RBI in a 2-for-3
performance. Crespo finished 3-for-5 with two runs while Callaway and
Holmes each finished with two hits.
Appalachian State returns to action on Wednesday night with a non-conference matchup at 7 p.m. at East Tennessee State.
NOTES: Tewell extended his hitting streak to 11 games ... the Apps
improved to 6-3 in the final game of three-game series this season ...
Kassouf and Tewell have reached base in nine-straight games ... Crespo's
three-hit game marked the 37th time this season that a Mountaineer had
at least three hits in a contest ... the Mountaineers have now posted 30
or more wins for six-straight seasons, tying the school record for
consecutive 30-win campaigns ... Crespo moved into ninth-place in ASU
history with 140 career runs.