LEXINGTON, Ky. – App State dropped a 15-inning heartbreaker to Kentucky 8-7 on Sunday with two outs in the bottom of the 15
th inning. Kentucky's Oraj Anu picked up the game-winning RBI on a bases-loaded walk, scoring Matt Golda from third base.
The Mountaineers tied Sunday's marathon matchup in the top of the ninth with two outs, sending the game to extra innings. Senior
Robbie Young smacked a double to left center on the first pitch he saw to tie the game at 7-7. Sophomore
Luke Drumheller, who finished with a 3-for-7 day at the plate, scored the tying run in the ninth.
App State relievers delivered five innings of scoreless relief until the 15
th, working out of two-straight bases-loaded jams in the 12
th and 13
th innings. Drumheller recorded the third put out in the 12
th, 13
th and 14
th innings, making diving stops to keep the Mountaineers alive in the 13
th and 14
th. The Mountaineers hadn't played a game that long since winning 6-3 against East Tennessee State in 15 innings during the 2000 Southern Conference tournament.
Overall, App State used seven arms out of its bullpen, securing scoreless outings from senior
Jack Hartman (2.1 innings pitched), freshman
Cy Smith (2.0 innings pitched) and sophomore
Austin Primm (2.0 innings pitched). The Mountaineers combined for 11 total strikeouts with starter
Quinton Martinez pacing App State with four punch outs.
App State (1-5) jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Sunday with four base hits in the third inning. Junior
Bailey Welch tallied the first RBI on a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring senior
Luke Allison from third. Young then dropped in a single to left field to plate freshman
Peyton Idol, who started in the leadoff spot for the first time in his young App State career. The Mountaineers scored their final run of the third inning with a single from sophomore
Phillip Cole.
Idol notched his own sacrifice fly to center field in the fourth, stretching App State's lead to 4-0. Drumheller continued his impressive day at the dish to plate Welch to push the advantage to 5-0.
The Wildcats (4-3) responded with six-straight runs, taking a 6-5 lead in the seventh inning after a solo homer from Golda. Kentucky's lead only lasted until the top half of the eighth when junior
Jack Lipson dropped in a single to left field, scoring junior
Tyler Leek from second to even the game at 6-6.
Five Mountaineers – Drumheller, Young, Cole, Leek and Lipson – recorded multi-hit games on Sunday. Four of App State's 13 base hits went for extra bases.
Sunday's contest ran just shy of six hours, marking App State's longest game since at least 2006. The Mountaineers notched a 7-6 victory over Niagara in a 13-inning affair on Feb. 25, 2006.
App State will return to action Wednesday against in-state foe Wake Forest. First pitch in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is set for 4 p.m.
"Extremely proud of our guys tonight, playing with that effort, intensity and focus for six hours after yesterday says a lot," head coach
Kermit Smith said. "I can't wait to get back to Boone for practice and continue the evolution of becoming what we are capable of. There are no moral victories, but this is something to build off of."
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2020 season.
