Box Score BOONE, N.C. — Three errors led to eight unearned runs in Appalachian State University baseball's 13-3 loss to Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams on Friday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

Appalachian State took a 1-0 lead against Georgia Southern ace Evan Challenger in the bottom of the first inning but surrendered six runs (five unearned) with two outs in the top of the second and never pulled closer the rest of the way.

Appalachian leadoff hitter Tanner Mann-Fix opened the game with a single off Challenger, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, took third on a balk and came home on an RBI groundout by Tyler Stroup to give the Mountaineers the early 1-0 advantage.

Georgia Southern's six-run second inning began innocuously enough, as App State starting pitcher Bobby Hampton easily recorded two outs after a leadoff single. However, needing only one out to get out of the inning unscathed, Hampton hit No. 8 batter Cal Baker with a 2-2 pitch, followed by a game-tying RBI single to No. 9 hitter Evan McDonald.

After the score was knotted at 1-1, Hampton appeared to get out of the inning without any more damage when he induced a ground ball to shortstop Will Herman but Herman skipped the throw to first base to allow Georgia Southern to take a 2-1 lead and extend the inning.

The error loomed large two batters later when GS cleanup hitter Hunter Thomas blasted a 2-1 pitch off the scoreboard in right field for a grand slam that gave the Eagles a commanding 6-1 advantage.

Georgia Southern added two more runs in the fourth inning (one unearned), three in the fifth (two unearned) and two in eighth to extend its lead to 13-1.

That was more than enough run support for Challenger. The defending first-team all-Sun Belt selection retired 11-straight batters after Mann-Fix's leadoff single and didn't allow another hit until Robert Langdon's one-out double in the sixth. The junior southpaw went on to pitch eight innings, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out five and moving to 3-1 on the season.

Appalachian State (3-11, 0-1 Sun Belt) plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth to account for the final margin.

Thomas (1-for-5, walk, five RBI) and McDonald (2-for-3, three RBI) paced Georgia Southern (9-5, 1-0 Sun Belt) offensively.

With rain in the forecast for Sunday, the Mountaineers and Eagles will wrap up their three-game Sun Belt series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Smith Stadium.