BOONE, N.C. — A first-inning grand slam from
CJ Brown gave Appalachian State an early lead Tuesday, and
Bailey Welch hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, but visiting North Carolina Central won 7-6 by scoring two unearned runs in the top of the ninth inning.
The Mountaineers return to action Wednesday with a 5 p.m. home game against Western Carolina.
Joel McDaniel,
Drew Beck and
Conner Leonard also scored on the grand slam, which erased a 1-0 deficit, and App State (8-27) moved ahead 5-3 when Beck crossed home on
Jason Avers' RBI double in the fifth inning.
The Eagles (22-18) managed to tie the game on a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning, and
Robert Langdon's one-out walk in the eighth set up Welch's run-scoring single to center with two away.
A dropped flyball opened the ninth inning, and North Carolina Central tied the game with a one-out single before pushing the go-ahead run across on a two-out error.
Welch went 3-for-5 with a triple to lead the Mountaineers' offense, and five App State pitchers combined to allow seven hits. Four of N.C. Central's runs were unearned.
"When Bailey lined out to lead off the first for us, it was still a sign that he's swinging the bat well, and he continued to do so throughout the night," App State head coach
Kermit Smith said. "Our defense wasn't as sound as it needed to be to win the game."
A first-inning error led to an unearned run against starting pitcher
Brandon Boone, who allowed three hits, gave up two earned runs, struck out four batters and issued six walks before leaving with two away in the fifth. Left-handed reliever
Tristan Helms retired a left-handed hitter to strand two baserunners and help App State maintain a 4-3 lead.
Kaleb Bowman stranded two more baserunners when he entered with the score tied in the seventh, and he struck out two batters in a perfect eighth.
Additional injuries to an already short-handed team led to relief pitcher
Bobby Hampton making his second outfield appearance of the season and relief pitcher
Will Herman filling in at second base as McDaniel moved from shortstop to the outfield.
Herman, who actually started the first two games of an injury-shortened 2017 season at second base, batted for the first time since last February. He recorded the first stolen base of his career and had an infield hit in the ninth inning. Hampton, another junior, logged the first at-bat of his career and also caught a two-out line drive with two runners on in the ninth.
