GREENSBORO, N.C. – Timely hitting and strong bullpen performances powered App State's baseball team to a 6-5 win at UNCG. App State's series-clinching victory also marked its third straight win.
Redshirt-sophomore
Cam Roberts delivered five innings in relief for App State, allowing just three runs in five innings to earn his first win as a Mountaineer. Roberts used a pair of 4-6-3 double plays to record scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth. The right-hander recorded three straight scoreless innings spanning from the third to the fifth frame.
Freshman
Cy Smith pitched 2.1 innings following Roberts, giving up just two hits and striking out four Spartans in a scoreless performance. Senior
Jack Hartman then nailed down his first save of the year to secure the 6-5 win. Hartman retired the side in order with a pair of strikeouts, punching out UNCG's Spencer Smith for the final out.
The Mountaineers (4-5) opened Saturday's game with a three-run first inning, which was also their third game in a row with a run scored in the first. Redshirt-senior
Luke Allison, sophomore
Luke Drumheller and junior
Tyler Leek all reached base to load the bases before senior
Robbie Young hit a sac fly to center field, scoring Allison from third to take a 1-0 lead.
Junior
Andrew Greckel then dropped a single into shallow left field after fighting off an inside 1-2 pitch, plating Drumheller from second. The Mountaineers tallied their third run of the game on an RBI single from junior
Kendall McGowan.
UNCG (6-3) earned its only lead of the game with a pair of runs in the first and second. The Spartans cut App State's lead to 3-2 in the first before taking a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the second. UNCG's Greg Hardison scored his first of three runs in the inning, finishing with three doubles and three runs scored.
App State responded with two runs in the third to retake a 5-4 lead. After Young led off the inning with a single to left field, Greckel drove a 1-1 pitch to right center for his first triple of the year. With the game tied at 4-4, Greckel scored on a wild pitch to put App State in the lead for good.
Allison singled with two outs in the sixth inning to keep the inning alive, advancing to second base on a wild pitch. Drumheller then singled to center field on a shallow fly ball, scoring Allison from third to extend App State's lead to 6-4.
Drumheller and Greckel led the Mountaineers with two-hit performances each, recording at least one base knock for extra bases. The pair of Mountaineers have combined to bat .563 (9-for-16) with two home runs, five RBIs and five runs scored in the first two games of this weekend's series.
"If we were on The Bachelor,
Cam Roberts would have gotten the rose tonight," head coach
Kermit Smith said. "He was awesome and competed in every facet and gave us some much needed relief. I was proud of our offense early on, and then we went completely silent. We have to cash in in the eighth with runners on second and third with nobody out. But we didn't, and we won. Anytime you win you have to enjoy it, and that's what we told the guys to do. There are always things to improve on, and they have shown the ability to want to improve. Cy and Jack were dominant out of the pen. Can't wait to get back out there tomorrow with these guys."
The Mountaineers look to earn their first weekend sweep of the season with left-hander
Quinton Martinez on the mound on Sunday. First pitch for Sunday's matchup is set for 1 p.m.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2020 season.
