BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State Baseball treated a large, lively home crowd to a big win against rival Georgia Southern on Saturday.
Tyler Leek hit his first Division I homer in the second inning before the Mountaineers had a pair of four-run frames in support of
Tyler Tuthill, who pitched six strong innings in a 9-5 victory that tied the Sun Belt Conference series.
With a crowd of 851 on hand at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium, App State (12-17, 5-6) took a 9-1 lead into the eighth inning. Earlier Saturday, Georgia Southern (17-14, 6-5) closed out a 3-0 victory when play resumed in a suspended Game 1, and Sunday's series finale is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Boone.
After
Will Sprinkle pitched five perfect innings in the series opener, Tuthill allowed no earned runs (one unearned) on two hits and struck out four batters in six innings. Entering the game with a four-run lead and one runner aboard in the eighth inning,
Andrew Papp induced an inning-ending double play and retired the side in order in the ninth inning.
Offensively,
Alex Leshock recorded two RBIs and tied Leek for the team lead with two runs scored. Leek,
Luke Drumheller,
Kendall McGowan and
Joel McDaniel finished with two hits apiece.
Leek, an App State newcomer who played previously at North Greenville University, pulled a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall with a 97-mph exit velocity to give App State a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
"I was just trying to stick to (hitting coach Erik) Lunde's approach and drive something to right-center," Leek said. "I kind of ran into one."
An inning after Leek's homer, Drumheller increased the lead with an RBI single to bring home Leshock. With runners on first and third, McGowan hit a high chopper to third and was in position to beat the throw to first when it sailed past the first baseman, allowing both
Phillip Cole and Drumheller to score.
Riley Smith's RBI groundout to bring McGowan home from third pushed the lead to 5-0.
Georgia Southern capitalized on a two-base throwing error to score in the fourth inning against Tuthill, who didn't allow a baserunner in the first three innings, but the Mountaineers gained more separation with a four-run sixth.
"I felt like I was painting my spots pretty good with my fastball, and my changeup was working pretty good, too," Tuthill said. "It helps when you always have run support, and it's nice when your teammates back you up."
McDaniel opened the bottom of the sixth with a double that had an exit velocity of 112 mph, the highest recorded mark by an App State player this season, according to the @AppStSportsData account. McDaniel advanced to third when Leek reached on a sacrifice bunt that included an error, and a one-out plunking of
Luke Allison loaded the bases.
Leshock delivered a two-run single through the left side to score McDaniel and Leek. A double steal by Allison and Leshock resulted in a run when the throw to third sailed high, and Leshock scored when Cole's slow roller in front of the plate created indecision for a catcher who turned back toward the plate before throwing late to first.
The series opener resumed with Georgia Southern holding a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, and App State reliever
Kaleb Bowman pitched three scoreless innings.
The game was a scoreless pitcher's duel through five innings, and Georgia Southern scored three times in the top of the sixth inning. Sprinkle was perfect through five innings, retiring all 15 batters on a total of 64 pitches.
Jason Swan led off the sixth with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on JP Tighe's single up the middle. After a single and lineout, a two-out walk loaded the bases for Mason McWhorter.
With a defensive shift putting McDaniel, the shortstop, on the other side of second base, McWhorter drilled a ball directly toward McDaniel, but it hit the second base umpire with a 99 mph exit velocity and ricocheted toward the left side of the infield for an RBI single.
Another RBI single in the next at-bat pushed the lead to 3-0, and Cole threw out a second baserunner at the plate from right field to end the frame.
Offensively,
Smith went 2-for-3, and Cole had the game's only extra-base hit with a first-inning double to put two runners in scoring position. Winning pitcher Seth Shuman got out of that jam with back-to-back strikeouts.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2019 season, and tickets to the season finale can be purchased online by
clicking HERE.
