DECATUR, Ga. — Conner Leonard's two-run double in the eighth inning cut Georgia State's lead in half, but Appalachian State opened its Sun Belt Conference road series against the Panthers with a 4-2 loss despite a strong start from junior
Colin Schmid.
Schmid, who pitched all eight innings for the Mountaineers, recorded seven strikeouts, allowed seven hits and issued one walk. With career strikeouts leader Ryan Arrowood (252 strikeouts from 2009-12) in attendance to watch his alma mater, Schmid moved into fourth place on App State's career list with 219 strikeouts and increased his season total to 78. That's tied for eighth place in school history, just below the 79 strikeouts he accumulated as a sophomore.
A single, double and back-to-back sacrifice flies to begin the bottom of the first inning gave Georgia State (24-25, 8-16) a 2-0 lead for talented starter Hunter Gaddis, and App State (16-32, 7-18) didn't allow the Panthers to score again until right-handed Ryan Glass pulled a two-run homer inside the left-field pole in the seventh inning. The Mountaineers answered back in the top of the eighth, with Leonard's double off the wall following a one-out single from
Alex Leshock and two-out double from
Bailey Welch.
Schmid took the mound in the seventh inning with only 68 pitches thrown and four hits allowed. After Georgia State put two runners on with one out in the second inning, he got the next 14 outs while facing only 14 batters. With left fielder
Beau Myers beginning the streak with a running catch in foul territory, Schmid retired 11 straight before giving up a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth inning, but that runner was erased on a 4-6-3 double play that involved a nice play from Welch at second and a strong throw from shortstop
Joel McDaniel to Leonard.
Offensively, Leonard increased his 2018 average to .333 with runners in scoring position, Leshock reached base three times during a 2-for-3 night that included a triple,
Kendall McGowan went 2-for-4 and
CJ Brown extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a game-opening single.
McGowan led off the top of the ninth inning with an infield single and advanced to second on a one-out walk to
Drew Beck, who gave way to pinch-runner
Robert Langdon. Georgia State's Jansen Acton retired the next two batters to record his sixth save and close out the eighth win of the season for Gaddis, who pitched eight innings.
Leshock's one-out triple in the third gave App State an early scoring chance, and Gaddis escaped a fifth-inning jam that was created when he plunked Myers and Leshock in back-to-back plate appearances with one out.
The series resumes Saturday with a 2 p.m. game at the GSU Baseball Complex in Decatur. App State's
Andrew Vaccacio and Georgia State's Jake Rogers are the probable mound starters.
