ATHENS, Ga. — Three Georgia pitchers combined to throw a five-hitter and Appalachian State University baseball suffered its sixth-straight defeat with a 4-0 loss to UGA on Wednesday afternoon at Foley Field.

Appalachian State (5-11) banged out four hits in the first four innings but managed only one more the rest of the game. The shutout loss was the Mountaineers' first of the season.

Georgia (12-5) scored the only run it needed on cleanup hitter Daniel Nichols' solo homer in the bottom of the second inning. The Bulldogs tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to account for the final margin.

App State's best scoring opportunity of the afternoon came in the fourth inning when Dillon Dobson doubled into the right-field corner with one out and the Mountaineers trailing just 1-0. However, two pitches later, the scoring threat was squelched when Dobson was caught trying to steal third base.

UGA starter Jared Walsh (2-0) blanked Appalachian over seven innings before Connor Jones and Drew Moody worked a hitless frame apiece to close out the ballgame.

Mountaineer starter Taylor Thurber surrendered four runs in 4.2 innings of work to suffer his third-straight defeat and fall to 2-3 on the campaign. Despite the three-consecutive losses, Thurber's ERA has only risen to 2.00 for the season.

After 16-straight games away from home to start the season, Appalachian State finally returns to Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith this weekend for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series versus Texas State. Game times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.