JONESBORO, Ark. — Despite a fast start from Appalachian State, Arkansas State claimed Game 1 of their Sun Belt Conference series with a 10-2 victory Friday night.
Because of weather forecasts for the area, the start time for Saturday's Game 2 has been pushed back to 7 p.m. ET (6 CT), and Sunday's finale now has a start time of 1 p.m. ET (noon CT).
Bailey Welch's 3-for-4 performance included a first-inning single that preceded
Luke Drumheller being hit by a pitch and
Kendall McGowan driving in Welch with an RBI single.
Arkansas State responded with three runs in the bottom of the first inning, including two on a two-out triple, before adding two runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth. The Mountaineers cut into an 8-1 deficit when
Joel McDaniel scored on a sixth-inning RBI single from
Riley Smith, who went 2-for-3 at the plate. He also threw out a stolen base attempt for the 14th time this season.
Tyler Leek also had a hit for App State (20-23, 11-10 Sun Belt). Tyler Duncan went 4-for-4 with the two-run triple in the first inning, a two-run homer in the fourth inning and an RBI single in the fifth inning to lead Arkansas State (24-22, 10-12).
Austin Primm came on in the fifth inning in relief of App State starter
Will Sprinkle, who finished with five strikeouts. Primm had scoreless sixth and seventh innings before
Will Herman and
Bobby Hampton closed out the eighth.
Tyler Tuthill, the reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week, is the scheduled starter Saturday for the Mountaineers. He is 6-4 with a 3.00 ERA that ranks third in the league.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2019 season.
