STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Southern swept a Sun Belt Conference doubleheader against Appalachian State on Saturday, winning 7-1 and 11-4 at J.I. Clements Stadium.
The Mountaineers took a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning of the nightcap when
Joel McDaniel hit a two-run home run to left field for his first homer in an App State uniform.
Appalachian (5-16, 0-6) returns to action Tuesday at Gardner-Webb and resumes its Sun Belt schedule with a series that begins Thursday at South Alabama. The other games are Friday and Saturday in advance of Easter Sunday.
GAME 2 RECAP
App State went ahead 2-0 in the second inning, as
Jason Avers and
Riley Smith had back-to-back singles. Avers scored on
Bailey Welch's one-out RBI single, and Smith came home on an RBI groundout by
Calev Grubbs.
A two-out, three-base throwing error on a grounder with a runner on first allowed Georgia Southern (12-11, 5-1) to cut into its deficit in the bottom of the second inning, and McDaniel followed Smith's leadoff walk in the fourth with his first-pitch homer.
The Eagles tied the game with a three-run bottom of the fourth, which began with a solo homer from Mason McWhorter. With runners on first and second, a hard-hit ball toward third produced another run with one out, and a fielder's choice tied the score after
Luke Watts (0-2) relieved starter
Travis Holden.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the sixth, when the Eagles put up five runs (four earned) on four hits. With one out and the bases loaded, an infield hit delivered the go-ahead run despite a diving stop from Welch at second base. Another infield hit, this one off the back of Watts' leg, gave Georgia Southern a 6-4 lead. It broke the game open with a two-run single in the next at-bat.
McDaniel, Smith (two runs), Welch, Avers,
Kendall McGowan and
Alex Leshock had one hit apiece for the Mountaineers.
Tristan Helms retired the only batter he faced in the sixth inning, and
Reed Howell struck out two batters in a scoreless seventh inning.
GAME 1 RECAP
Saturday's opener was scoreless until McWhorter hit a third-inning grand slam, and a two-run homer from Noah Searcy in the fifth inning increased Georgia Southern's lead to 6-0.
App State ended the shutout bid in the seventh inning, when Avers singled to right field, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out single by Welch.
Welch went 3-for-4 with one double. Avers, Smith,
Drew Beck (double) and
CJ Brown had one hit apiece.
Colin Schmid (1-2) struck out eight batters in five innings and took the loss. Freshman reliever
Jason Cornatzer pitched two innings, and
Andrew Papp struck out two batters in a scoreless eighth inning.
