BOONE, N.C. — Conner Leonard's three-run double gave Appalachian State a first-inning lead, and a strong start from
Colin Schmid kept the Mountaineers ahead until the eighth inning of a 4-3 home loss to Louisiana on Friday.
Due to weather projections for Sunday, the Mountaineers (8-24, 1-12) and Ragin' Cajuns (18-17, 6-7) will now play a Saturday doubleheader starting at noon in Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. Game 2 of the Sun Belt Conference series will be shown on APPVISION, and the series finale will be available on ESPN3.
After Leonard's first-inning double inside the bag at third brought home
Alex Leshock,
Drew Beck and
Riley Smith, Louisiana cut its deficit to 3-2 with one earned run and one unearned run in the third.
Schmid (2-4) returned to the mound in the top of the eighth with seven strikeouts, one walk and the one earned run against him on just three hits. Consecutive one-out walks, including one on a 3-2 offering, preceded a wild pitch that put two runners in scoring position.
Daniel Lahare's RBI groundout to second tied the game, and Gavin Bourgeios singled off reliever
Luke Watts to break the tie.
Each team totaled five hits, with Leshock going 2-for-4 in his return to the lineup, and Louisiana starter Colten Schmidt (4-0, 1.52 ERA) struck out two batters in eight innings a week after his 10 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings led to a Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week honor.
"Colin pitched his heart out and did a fantastic job on the mound, which is what we see time after time from him," App State coach
Kermit Smith said. "It was great to see Conner come through with such a big hit against a talented pitcher, but offense was hard to come by on each side with how well both guys were pitching."
Schmid retired 12 batters in a row before allowing a two-out single in the seventh. Before that, the only hits he had given up were a single and double in consecutive at-bats with one out in the third inning. Louisiana's first run came home on a grounder, and a fielding error on the play enabled another run to score. The frame ended with a lineout to shortstop
Joel McDaniel, who fired to first for the double play.
Schmid retired the side in order in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth innings as he pitched a season-high 7.2 innings.
Offensively, Leshock returned after missing almost three full games, and App State's other hits came from McDaniel and
Beau Myers. Beck reached base for the 13th straight game by drawing a one-out walk in the first, after Leshock's single and right before a walk to
Riley Smith loaded the bases for Leonard.
After Louisiana took the 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth, Leshock led off the bottom half of the inning with a single to center and advanced to second on a two-strike sacrifice bunt from
Bailey Welch. Beck's bouncing ball to the left side hit off the third baseman's glove before redirecting to shortstop Hayden Cantrelle, who threw to first for the out, and a foul popout left Leshock stranded at second.
Nick Lee struck out the side in the ninth to record his first save of the season.
