BOONE, N.C. — Wake Forest scored seven runs — six of them unearned — in the top of the eighth inning to rally from an 8-4 deficit and defeat Appalachian State University baseball, 11-8, on Wednesday night at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

Appalachian State (7-18), which fell into a three-run hole early in the ballgame, rebounded for two runs in the third inning, two in the fourth and three in the sixth to grab the commanding 8-4 lead, which it took into the eighth.

In the top of the eighth, Wake Forest cut the Mountaineers' advantage to 8-5 with a two-out RBI single by pinch hitter Kevin Conway but one batter later, App State reliever Ryan Ross induced what looked like an inning-ending flyout to right field. However, sophomore Tyler Stroup, making his third appearance of the season in the outfield after missing the first month of the campaign with a leg injury, dropped the ball and two runs scored to cut the Appalachian lead to 8-7.

Wake Forest's Jonathan Pryor followed Stroup's error with an RBI single that knotted the score at 8-8.

After Ross hit the next batter with an 0-2 pitch to load the bases, the freshman southpaw produced another fly ball to right field for what could have been the final out of the inning. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, Stroup misplayed the ball near the warning track, allowing it to fall to the ground and one-hop the wall for a three-run triple that gave the Demon Deacons an unlikely 11-8 lead.

Appalachian State put runners on base in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings but couldn't push across any more runs.

The fateful eighth inning overshadowed what was an otherwise strong performance for the Mountaineers, who came up four outs short of their first season sweep of Wake Forest since 2008 and their first season sweep of any Atlantic Coast Conference club since they took two games from Duke in 2012.

At the plate, App State banged out 12 hits, highlighted by Michael Pierson going 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, three RBI and three runs scored. Dillon Dobson, Conner Leonard, Noah Holmes and Bradley Morton chipped in with two hits apiece. Stroup drove in two runs.

The downside offensively was that Appalachian State left a season-high 15 runners on base.

On the mound, relievers Dallas DeVrieze and Robert Whaley combined for 4.1 innings of scoreless relief to allow the Mountaineers to rally in the middle innings. DeVrieze was particularly impressive with seven strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work. Whaley's scoreless inning came in his first appearance of the season after missing the first 24 games due to a personal issue.

Defensively, Appalachian State turned a season-high four double plays but committed three errors that led to just four of Wake Forest's 11 runs being earned.

Wake Forest (17-10) was led by right fielder Stuart Fairchild, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. The Demon Deacons have won three-straight and four of their last six games.

Appalachian State looks to shake off the heartbreaking defeat this weekend when it travels to UALR for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series. Game times are set for 7 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in Little Rock, Ark.