CONWAY, S.C. — Kaleb Bowman exited the mound to ovations from fans of both Appalachian State and Louisiana during their Sun Belt Championship tournament opener.
A strong relief effort from Bowman kept the Ragin' Cajuns at bay, giving App State time to tie the game with a fifth-inning rally, but a two-run, non-reviewable double ruled inside the bag at first gave Louisiana the lead for good in the sixth inning of its 6-2 victory Tuesday night.
Making their first postseason appearance since joining the Sun Belt, the ninth-seeded Mountaineers ended the year with a 22-31 overall record and a program-best 13 wins against Sun Belt competition. Eighth-seeded Louisiana (28-29) advanced to the eight-team, double-elimination portion of the tournament and will face No. 2 seed Georgia Southern on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.
With the departure of seniors such as Bowman,
Bobby Hampton,
Riley Smith,
Brandon Boone,
CJ Brown,
Joel McDaniel and
Drew Beck, the postgame dugout was filled with emotion. As head coach
Kermit Smith hugged Boone, they smiled as they fought back tears in a moment that showed both the hurt from Tuesday's outcome but the appreciation from months and years of working closely together.
Louisiana led 2-0 with one earned run after two innings even though it didn't record a hit until the fourth. Replacing starter
Jason Cornatzer with two on and nobody out in the second inning, Bowman officially pitched four straight scoreless innings and struck out four batters heading into the sixth.
App State tied the game with a two-run fifth, as
Robbie Young and
Luke Allison led off the inning with back-to-back walks. Young advanced to third on
Tyler Leek's flyball to right, and Allison moved up when the throw got away from the third baseman.
A pop-out to second preceded a passed ball that allowed Young to race home, and
Luke Drumheller delivered an RBI single shortly thereafter.
Bowman, the Sun Belt ERA champion, tied his career high of 4.2 innings pitched. A flyout started the bottom of the sixth, and the next two batters reached on a single and walk. Both runners moved up on a dribbler to Bowman, who got the out at first, and App State intentionally walked top-of-the-order standout Hayden Cantrelle to load the bases. Hunter Kasuls pulled a ball past first to bring home two runs, and the play wasn't reviewable because the ball touched the ground before reaching the bag in the air.
Andrew Papp took over on the mound and struck out the next batter before retiring the side in order in the seventh. Louisiana added a pair of two-out runs in the eighth on an RBI double and outfield error.
The teams combined for just nine hits, and Smith threw out a baserunner for the 15th time this season by picking one off first right before a pumped-up Bowman ended the fifth inning with a strikeout. Offensively, Allison added a stolen base to complete an 11-for-11 season in that department.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2019 season.
