BOONE, N.C. — The pitching of
Tyler Tuthill and power of
Robbie Young helped carry App State to a 5-4 home victory against Arkansas State in a Sun Belt Conference opener Friday.
Tuthill allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits, struck out five batters and issued just one walk in seven innings for the Mountaineers (8-8, 1-0). His strikeout to strand the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning preserved a 4-2 lead.
The Red Wolves hit solo homers in each of the last two innings to twice cut two-run deficits to one run, but
Noah Hall earned his second save by striking out five of the other six batters he faced.
Offensively, Young's second-inning double helped set up a two-run inning, and his two-run homer with
Andrew Greckel aboard in the sixth inning pushed the lead to 4-1. Young also drew an intentional walk to load the bases before App State's
Phillip Cole scored on a wild pitch in the eighth inning.
Young's ground-rule double in the second inning moved
Kendall McGowan to third following McGowan's one-out single.
Hayden Cross delivered an RBI groundout in the next at-bat, and
Alex Leshock's tiebreaking single brought Young home.
Three of Arkansas State's four runs came on solo homers.
Tuthill retired 15 of 17 batters through five innings. He recorded a strikeout with a runner on second in the sixth and, after a stolen base, ended the frame with a swinging strikeout.
Arkansas State loaded the bases with one out in the seventh. After a pop-out to second, one run came when the batter was hit by a 3-2 pitch, but Tuthill responded with a strikeout on a 2-2 pitch.
