BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State Baseball took two of three games in its first home series of 2019, as the Mountaineers followed a 5-2 win against Manhattan in Saturday's opener with a 14-5 victory to begin a Sunday doubleheader.
The Jaspers held off the Mountaineers in a 5-4 win to close the series at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
Joel McDaniel had a pair of two-run homers in the same inning during Sunday's first game, and freshman
Phillip Cole also hit the first two homers of his college career in that high-scoring victory.
App State (2-4) trailed 1-0 before exploding with a nine-run fourth inning, and freshman starter
Tyler Tuthill (1-1) picked up the win by allowing three earned runs in six innings. He finished with six strikeouts.
Moving forward from a season-opening series against a Tennessee team that has started 7-0 with five shutouts and a combined four runs allowed, App State clinched a series victory Sunday by posting its highest single-game run total since 2015.
With homers in both the sixth and seventh innings, Cole (3-for-5, three runs, three RBIs) helped lead an offense that included big outings from McDaniel (3-for-5, four RBIs, two runs),
Riley Smith (4-for-4, triple),
Luke Drumheller (2-for-4, two RBIs),
Kendall McGowan (1-for-4, two RBIs, two runs) and
Robbie Young (2-for-4, two runs).
Dalton Williams added his first career RBI.
According to the @AppStateSportsAnalytics account, Cole's homers traveled 417 and 388 feet. McDaniel's homers went 414 and 376 feet, with the second blast possessing an exit velocity of 108 mph.
Tuthill took a 10-1 lead into the sixth inning, sophomore reliever
Jason Cornatzer allowed one run while striking out two batters in two innings and freshman
Evan Mauldin pitched a perfect ninth in his App State debut.
In the nightcap, App State trailed 5-1 before Drumheller cleared the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning with a three-run double that scored pinch-hitter
Andrew Terrell, pinch-runner
Bret Baldwin and
Bailey Welch. Manhattan closer T.J. Stuart followed a runner-advancing flyout to right with a two-out walk and strikeout.
Only two of the five runs by the Jaspers (2-4) were earned against pitchers
Cameron Kepley (two earned runs in three innings as the starter),
Andrew Papp (one earned run and four strikeouts in two innings),
Kaleb Bowman (one scoreless inning),
Cam Roberts (three strikeouts in two scoreless innings) and
Jack Hartman (scoreless ninth inning). App State faced 6-foot-10 lefty John Cain, who had allowed only one run in seven innings the previous weekend during a win against 2018 Super Regional participant Stetson.
App State's nine-run outburst in the fourth inning of its 14-5 win began with a McGowan walk and McDaniel homer to left. Young walked before moving to third on a Smith single, and
CJ Brown's one-out walk loaded the bases for Welch, who delivered an RBI single. Drumheller had a two-run single in the next at-bat, and McGowan's two-run double with two away pushed the lead to 7-1. McDaniel homered again to left in the next-bat.
Cole's first career homer led off the bottom of the sixth inning, and
Luke Allison was on base via a walk when Cole homered in the seventh inning.
The Mountaineers return to action Tuesday at South Carolina. First pitch in Columbia, S.C., is scheduled for 4 p.m.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2019 season.
