BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University baseball jumped out to a 3-0 lead but committed four errors and left 13 men on base in an eventual 6-3 loss to Troy in Friday evening's Sun Belt Conference series opener at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

Two days after committing a season-high six errors in Wednesday's 12-10 win at North Carolina A&T, all four of Appalachian State's miscues came in the final five innings of Friday's ballgame and led to three of Troy's six runs being unearned.

As has been the case for much of the season, things started well for the Mountaineers, who struck first on catcher Chandler Seagle's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the second.

An inning later, App State took advantage of Troy's lone error of the evening to plate two more runs and grab an early 3-0 advantage.

With starting pitcher Taylor Thurber cruising, the Mountaineers took the 3-0 lead into the fifth inning.

Troy cut the deficit to 3-1 on an RBI single by Reid Long but with Long on second base and two outs, Thurber appeared to escape any more damage when he got Troy's Logan Hill to chase a pitch out of the zone for strike three. Needing to throw to first base to complete the inning-ending strikeout, Seagle's toss sailed wide of the bag and into right field, allowing Reid to score all the way from second to slice Appalachian's advantage to 3-2.

The Mountaineers' lead completely evaporated in the sixth when two more errors led to another earned run that knotted the score at 3-3.

It remained a 3-3 ballgame until the eighth when Thurber hit Troy's David Hall with a pitch to lead off the frame. Pinch-runner Shaw Pinnell stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, prompting Appalachian State head coach Billy Jones to summon freshman Ryan Ross from the bullpen to try to get the Mountaineers out of the jam.

Ross got ahead in the count against pinch-hitter Peyton Fuller but the southpaw was denied what would've been a huge strikeout when his 1-2 delivery just missed the zone. One pitch later, Fuller singled to left field, driving in Pinnell and giving the Trojans their first lead of the game at 4-3.

Looking to stay within striking distance in the ninth, Appalachian State surrendered a leadoff homer to Long and committed its fourth error of the ballgame, which led to another unearned run that extended Troy's lead to 6-3.

In addition to the four errors, the Mountaineers also stranded seven base runners over the final five innings, including leaving the bases loaded in the seventh and coming up empty despite putting three runners on in the ninth.

Appalachian State (9-22, 2-11 Sun Belt) pounded out 12 hits, paced by two apiece from Michael Pierson, Noah Holmes, Grayson Atwood, Matt Brill and Seagle.

However, in addition to the 13 men left on base, the Mountaineers hit into two double plays and had one runner thrown out at the plate in the fourth inning and another picked off first in the ninth.

Thurber recorded a career-high eight strikeouts and surrendered only two earned runs in 7.1 innings of work but suffered another tough-luck loss to fall to 3-6 on the season.

Long led the Trojans' 11-hit attack by going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Troy (16-15, 5-5 Sun Belt) also stole eight bases, which was just one shy of the Smith Stadium record of nine set by App State against Furman on 22, 2010.

Troy starting pitcher Grant Bennett served up nine hits over seven innings but only allowed three runs (one earned) to move to 6-1 on the campaign.

The clubs continue their three-game Sun Belt series on Saturday at 2 p.m.