CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Appalachian State Baseball followed its trip-starting road win at FAU with a 6-1 loss against Miami at Alex Rodriguez Park on Wednesday night.
Miami's Jordan Lala led off the bottom of the first inning by pulling a home run to right, and the Mountaineers (4-7) cut their deficit to 3-1 with a sixth-inning run on
Phillip Cole's RBI groundout, but a two-out throwing error in the bottom of the sixth allowed the Hurricanes (10-2) to double their lead to a 5-1 advantage.
Freshman second baseman
Luke Drumheller extended his hitting streak to nine games with a 2-for-4 night in which he scored App State's lone run, and
Kendall McGowan also went 2-for-4 at the plate. The team's other two hits came from
Bailey Welch (double) and
Robbie Young.
App State starter
Cameron Kepley (one run on three hits in 2.2 innings),
Jason Cornatzer (three strikeouts and two earned runs allowed in 2.2 innings),
Jack Hartman (three strikeouts and one run allowed in 1.1 innings) and
Cam Roberts (one strikeout and two hits allowed in 1.1 scoreless innings) totaled seven strikeouts for the Mountaineers in a staff game.
Six of App State's losses are against teams with a combined record of 40-7: Tennessee (13-0), Miami (10-2), South Carolina (10-3) and Gardner-Webb, which improved to 7-2 with an upset of the Gamecocks on Wednesday.
Miami opened its half of the first with three straight hits but stranded one runner with the help of a 1-4-6-3 double play, and a two-run fourth inning gave the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead before App State had its most productive frame against 6-foot-4 starter Slade Cecconi (eight strikeouts) in the sixth.
Drumheller delivered a one-out single to left, advanced to third on double to right from an aggressive Welch and scored on Cole's groundout to the shortstop. A strikeout with Welch on third limited the damage against Cecconi, who had escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second by getting the third out on a lineout to right.
Trailing by five in the ninth, App State loaded the bases thanks to a McGowan single, a walk to
Riley Smith and another walk to pinch-hitter
Hayden Cross, but closer Daniel Federman entered the game and earned a one-out save with a flyout to right.
Miami broke the game open after posting back-to-back singles and moving two runners into scoring position with nobody out in the sixth. Cornatzer got a swinging strikeout on a 3-2 pitch before giving way to Hartman, who recorded a strikeout on another 3-2 pitch. A slow roller near the mound preceded a throwing error that allowed both runners to score, and the Hurricanes added their final run an inning later.
The Mountaineers return to the Carolinas and resume their schedule Saturday morning with a 10 a.m. game against Western Carolina in Greenville, S.C.
That game is part of the First Pitch Invitational at Fluor Field, as Appalachian will play a Sunday doubleheader against Furman at 9 a.m. and Michigan State at 1 p.m.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2019 season.
