TROY, Ala. — Falling behind in the first three innings, Appalachian State Baseball lost 8-2 on Thursday in the opening game of a Sun Belt Conference series at Troy.
The Trojans (20-18, 8-8) led 6-0 before App State (15-20, 7-8) posted a pair of fourth-inning runs on
Kendall McGowan's sacrifice fly and
Dalton Williams' RBI double. A single by
Alex Leshock and walk by
Tyler Leek put runners in scoring position for McGowan and Williams, who added a ninth-inning single to finish 2-for-3.
Troy's third homer of the game produced a 7-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, and
Jason Cornatzer pitched 1.1 scoreless innings after relieving starter
Will Sprinkle with two away and a runner on second in the fourth.
Austin Primm pitched the final three innings and totaled four strikeouts, including two in a clean eighth inning.
In addition to Williams and Leshock,
Riley Smith and
Robbie Young had hits for the Mountaineers. Smith also threw out a steal attempt for the 12th time this season, giving him the fourth-best total in the Sun Belt.
Troy starter Levi Thomas allowed two runs and struck out six batters in eight innings. Offensively, Chase Smartt hit a two-run homer for a 4-0 lead before Manning Early delivered a solo homer for a 5-0 advantage and Drew Frederic had his solo homer in the fourth inning. Sadler Goodwin hit an early two-run double and finished 3-for-3.
The series resumes Friday with a scheduled first pitch of 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT). App State's
Tyler Tuthill (5-3) and Troy's Cory Gill (4-1) are the probable starters.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2019 season.
