BOONE, N.C. — Center fielder
Alex Leshock's sliding catch in the second inning gave
Tyler Tuthill hope that this could be a special day.
After flirting with history, App State worked through a tense ninth inning and opened its Sun Belt Conference home series against ULM with a 6-4 victory on a windy Friday at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
The Mountaineers took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, as Tuthill didn't allow any hits in his 6.2 innings on the mound, and App State held a 6-0 lead when the Warhawks finally broke through on a high-chopped infield single with one out in the eighth against reliever
Eli Ellington.
With early home runs from
Kendall McGowan and
Dalton Williams contributing to the lead,
Noah Hall took the mound with one out in the ninth, a 6-4 advantage and the tying run at the plate. A walk preceded a grounder to second baseman
Luke Drumheller, who flipped to shortstop
Bailey Welch for a forceout, and a call of runner interference at the base resulted in a game-ending double play.
The only documented no-hitter in App State history is a five-inning, 23-0 victory in which three pitchers combined to shut out Coppin State in 2007. Tuthill pitched a complete-game shutout at home against UTA in 2019 and also started as five pitchers combined for a one-hitter in a 14-0 win against Furman earlier that same season.
Tuthill retired the first 10 batters of the game Friday and followed three consecutive one-out walks in the fourth by inducing a 6-4-3 double play. He struck out the first two batters of the sixth inning, delivered another trio of walks and escaped that bases-loaded jam when third baseman
Peyton Idol made a leaping catch of a line drive.
With a hit batter, a throwing error to first on a sac bunt and then another sac bunt in which the out was recorded, ULM (18-20, 5-11) had two runners in scoring position with one away against Tuthill in the seventh. A foulout to
Robbie Young at first produced a big second out, leading Ellington to replace Tuthill with his pitch count at 90, and a groundout to second ended that frame.
App State (16-21, 7-6 Sun Belt) went ahead 2-0 with a four-hit first inning, as Welch led off with a single, McGowan hit a one-out single, a wild pitch moved two runners into scoring position and Young drilled an RBI single to center. Williams' check-swing bunt toward the first base side allowed McGowan to score without a short throw to the plate.
McGowan opened the bottom of the third inning with a 431-foot homer to left-center, and Williams pulled a 388-foot solo homer to right two batters later.
In the seventh, App State loaded the bases on a Leshock walk, an Idol single and 3-2 plunking of Welch. McGowan's one-out walk brought home a run, and Young beat out a potential double-play ball to score Idol.
Ellington retired four of the first five batters he faced, allowing App State to take a one-hit shutout into the ninth.
A walk, single and passed ball preceded a strikeout, but ULM ended the shutout bid with an RBI single and then pulled closer on Ryan Humeniuk's three-run homer that kept carrying and carrying in the windy conditions.
A one-out single prompted a call to Hall, who recorded his second save of the season.
The series is scheduled to resume Saturday with Game 2 at 2 p.m.
