BOONE, N.C. — An early pitchers' duel gave way to a high-scoring affair, as division-leading Little Rock opened a Sun Belt Conference series at Appalachian State with a 10-4 victory against the Mountaineers on Friday night.
The Trojans (22-18, 11-7) broke a scoreless tie with a four-run fourth inning and added three more runs in the fifth before
Bailey Welch's two-run single and
Conner Leonard's RBI single highlighted a four-run bottom of the fifth for App State (11-30, 3-16).
Appalachian's four-run frame, which began with
Kendall McGowan reaching on a single,
Beau Myers hitting a double and
Alex Leshock getting hit by a pitch to load the bases for Welch, matched the team's highest-scoring inning of the season. Eight of the Mountaineers' nine starters had one hit apiece in the game.
After App State cut its deficit to 7-4, Little Rock responded with a two-run sixth.
Bobby Hampton pitched a scoreless seventh after relieving starter
Colin Schmid, and
Jason Cornatzer threw a scoreless ninth.
The series will resume Saturday at 3 p.m., and the All-Sport Alumni Tailgate will begin at 4 p.m. inside Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. To register for the tailgate, where drinks will be served with hamburgers, hot dogs, black bean burgers, cole slaw, baked beans, potato chips and Rice Krispies treats,
click HERE.
