STATESBORO, Ga. — Appalachian State University baseball plated a run before the game's first out was recorded but didn't score again in a 3-1 loss to Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at J.I. Clements Stadium.

Things started out well for Appalachian State (5-8, 0-2 Sun Belt), which opened the game with a leadoff double from Brandon Burris and an RBI single by Michael Pierson to take a 1-0 lead just two batters into the contest.

However, the Mountaineers would manage only six more hits the rest of the game and, despite having runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and sixth innings, did not put any more runs on the board.

Georgia Southern's Aaron Mizell almost single-handedly provided all the offense the Eagles would need with a solo home run in the first inning and a leadoff triple in the third. Two batters after his third-inning triple, Mizell came home with what proved to be the winning run.

Aside from Mizell's heroics, Appalachian State received impressive pitching performances from freshman Travis Holden and sophomore Dallas DeVrieze. Holden allowed just three runs (two earned) on five hits over 5.2 innings before DeVrieze tossed 2.1 scoreless frames to close out the contest.

Appalachian's No. 1-3 hitters — Burris, Pierson and Jaylin Davis — had two hits apiece but the rest of the batting order combined to go 2-for-20 at the plate. With his two hits, Pierson extended the nation's longest on-base streak to 43 games.

With the loss, the tough-luck Mountaineers fell to 1-6 this season and 8-22 since the beginning of 2014 in games decided by two runs or less.

Appalachian State looks to salvage the final game of this weekend's three-game Sun Belt Conference series against Georgia Southern (10-5, 2-0 Sun Belt) on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.