BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Three Mountaineers allowed no earned runs in their App State debuts in a 5-1 season-opening loss to Gardner-Webb on Friday.
Freshman right-hander
Noah Hall registered five strikeouts in his App State debut, working 2.1 innings in relief of starting pitcher
Tyler Tuthill. Hall allowed just two hits and an unearned run in Friday's game.
Sophomore left-hander
Cole Hooper also delivered a scoreless outing, striking out two Gardner-Webb (1-0) batters in the eighth inning before giving way to redshirt-freshman
Matthew Helms to close out the frame. Helms recorded his first-career strikeout to end the inning.
"It was really nice to see three guys get their first outings tonight," head coach
Kermit Smith said. "Anytime that you punch out 13 then you have to be happy with something that you are doing on the mound. We need to take care of the baseball a little bit better and limit the number of free bases that we gave up tonight."
The Mountaineers scored their sole run of the contest in the ninth inning. Junior
Tyler Leek reached on a fielder's choice when a throw from the third baseman went wide of the second base bag, scoring sophomore
Hayden Cross from second. Cross singled to left field with one out in the final inning.
App State (0-1) also had a prime scoring chance in the eighth inning when the Mountaineers loaded the bases after an error on Gardner-Webb's third baseman. Junior
Tyler Leek opened the inning with an infield single, and senior
Robbie Young drew a two-out walk to put two Mountaineers on base earlier in the inning. Junior
Andrew Greckel flew out to just short of the warning track in right field to end the threat.
"Greck hit that ball pretty well in the eighth with the bases juiced," Smith said. "If that goes it's a completely different game. We can't wait for tomorrow."
Young reached base three times in the season opener, doubling to right field with two outs in the sixth. Cross and Greckel also reached base twice for the Mountaineers.
Gardner-Webb scored four runs in the fourth inning to take a 4-0 lead. The Runnin' Bulldogs tacked on another run in the fifth inning after an error in the outfield. Landon Mitchell recorded the win for Gardner-Webb after throwing six scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
App State returns to action Saturday with a 4 p.m. first pitch. Right-hander
Shane Roberts will make his debut for the Mountaineers on the mound.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2020 season.
