BOONE, N.C. — Making the first weekend start of his career, senior pitcher Taylor Thurber threw a four-hit shutout to lead Appalachian State University baseball to its first-ever Sun Belt Conference victory, a 7-0 triumph over UL Monroe on Friday night at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

Thurber (3-4) needed only 102 pitches to record the first complete game of his career. The right-hander, who had only three starts in 62 career appearances coming into the evening, struck out seven, walked none and shattered his previous career high of six innings pitched.

Freshman Conner Leonard provided the only runs Thurber would need in the bottom of the first inning when he drove in two with a double off the wall left-center field.

Appalachian State (6-15, 1-6 Sun Belt) stretched the lead to 4-0 in the third inning on Dillon Dobson's team-leading fifth home run of the year and a two-out RBI triple by Noah Holmes.

A two-run double by Alex Leach highlighted a three-run seventh inning that gave the Mountaineers a commanding 7-0 advantage. Leach's pinch-hit, two-out, two-run double came on the first pitch that he faced this season. The fourth-year junior missed the first 20 games of the campaign due to a hip injury.

The run support was more than enough for Thurber, who faced the minimum number of ULM batters through 3.2 innings and retired 13-straight hitters to close out the ballgame. The only two Warhawks that reached scoring position did so with two outs in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.

With the shutout effort, Thurber lowered his season ERA to 1.71 and upped his incredible strikeout-to-walk ratio to 29-to-2.

Dobson and Leonard led the Mountaineers' 11-hit offensive attack with three apiece. Dobson also scored three runs and Holmes matched Leonard with two RBI.

The victory snapped Appalachian State's 10-game losing streak, a frustrating skid that included losing five of its first six Sun Belt games by two runs or less.

ULM (11-8, 1-3 Sun Belt) lost for only the second time in its last seven outings and saw its three-game winning streak come to an end.

Appalachian State looks to seal its first Sun Belt series victory on Saturday when it hosts ULM for the second game of the three-game weekend series. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Smith Stadium.

NOTES: Appalachian State was 7-for-19 (.368) with runners on base and 6-for-14 (.429) with two outs on Friday evening ... the Mountaineers came into the game hitting .236 with runners on base and .251 with two outs ... the shutout was Appalachian State's second of the season ... Thurber worked the first six innings of the Mountaineers' 4-0 win at High Point on March 3 ... the win at HPU was Appalachian State's last victory before the 10-game losing streak that it snapped on Friday night ... Thurber's previous career high of 6.0 IP came in the shutout win at HPU on March 3 and in a relief appearance against Davidson on March 2, 2013 ... the complete-game shutout was the first by a Mountaineer since Sean Mason blanked Virginia Tech, 11-0, on April 22 of last season ... in four starts, Thurber is 3-1 with a 1.82 ERA, .195 opponents' batting average, 11 strikeouts and one walk in 24.2 innings ... Dobson's fifth home run of the season was the 22nd of his career, which pulls him within four of the all-time top 10 at Appalachian State ... junior center fielder Jaylin Davis will miss a minimum of 2-3 weeks due to a shoulder injury sustained while making a diving catch last Saturday versus Texas State ... for the third time in Appalachian State's four home dates this season, the contest was played with a steady mist falling throughout much of the game.