ELON, N.C. — Elon scored two runs in each of the first three innings as Appalachian State suffered a 10-0 road loss at Latham Park on Friday.
The Mountaineers (4-7) and Phoenix (6-8) are scheduled to finish their nonconference series Saturday with a doubleheader starting at noon. With 18 strikeouts and only three earned runs in 14 innings over his last two starts,
Colin Schmid (1-0, 2.50 ERA) is the probable starting pitcher for App State in Game 2.
Travis Holden (2-0, 1.64 ERA) is the probable starter on the mound for Game 3.
Conner Leonard (2-for-4) and
Drew Beck (1-for-3, walk) had fifth-inning singles Friday as the Mountaineers produced four baserunners on two hits and two walks in the six innings pitched by hard-throwing Elon right-hander George Kirby, who finished with 10 strikeouts.
App State starter
Andrew Vaccacio pitched into the third inning and departed following an injury visit to the mound.
Reed Howell,
Andrew Papp,
Tristan Helms and freshman
Will Sprinkle also pitched for the Mountaineers, with Sprinkle tossing two scoreless innings. He struck out three batters, including two straight after he entered in the seventh.
"I thought Andrew (Papp) and Will (Sprinkle) threw the ball well on a night that Andrew (Vaccacio) had to leave the game because of injury," App State head coach
Kermit Smith said. "You have to give a lot of credit to Elon on a night like this. They played a pretty complete game. Kirby was really good."
Elon took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Cam Devanney's two-run double inside the third-base bag. A single and sacrifice fly in the second doubled the Phoenix's advantage, and App State trailed 6-0 after three innings.
CJ Brown and
Alex Leshock drew walks against Kirby to account for the Mountaineers' other baserunners against the Elon starter.
App State put two runners on in the eighth when Leshock reached second on a two-out throwing error and
Robert Langdon drew a walk on a 3-2 offering, but a strikeout ended the threat. Leonard reached third base with one out in the ninth, and a pair of two-out walks loaded the bases before Josh Broughton ended the game with a popout.
Missing three opening-day starters, App State played
Jason Avers in left field and gave
Drake Zupcic his first start of the season as a designated hitter.
Kendall McGowan did make his return with a pinch-hit appearance in the ninth inning.
