BOONE, N.C – Trailing by one entering the bottom of the eighth after a call of catcher's obstruction overturned a tie-salvaging double play, center field
Banks Tolley immediately exacted revenge with a game-tying homer that ignited a six-run inning in a 15-10 win over Marshall.
App State (16-8, 4-4) led 5-1 through two innings, helped by Tolley's two-run homer that went 419 feet in the first inning and
Kameron Miller's 455-foot shot to center field leading off the bottom of the second inning, before turning a three-run lead into a six-run advantage on
Drew Holderbach's three-run homer to left in the sixth inning.
Marshall (9-17, 3-5) used a six-run seventh that included four two-out runs to tie the score at 9-all, then took a 10-9 lead when a potential 8-2 double play to end the frame on a laser-like throw from Tolley in center field was overturned via a call of catcher's obstruction on the successful tag at the plate of the runner trying to score from third.
A flyout in the next at-bat ended the top of the eighth, and Tolley quickly retied the game by drilling a no-doubt, 459-foot homer to left-center on the first pitch from new reliever Nick Jodway.
A walk to
Braxton Church and double inside the bag at third from
Drew Holderbach chased Jodway, and
Adam Quintero greeted submarine-style reliever Nicholas Weyrich with a high-chop single over the first baseman's head to bring in Church with the go-ahead run.
After a strikeout, left-handed
Hunter Wilder snuck an opposite-field grounder inside the bag at third for an RBI double to score Holderbach. The lead jumped to 14-10 when two more runs scored on
Joseph Zamora's triple to the wall in center.
Zach Lewis (win, 1-0) earned the win in relief, tossing the final two innings of the ballgame for the Mountaineers and striking out a pair in a scoreless ninth inning to secure the victory.
Miller's first career homer gave the Mountaineers a 3-1 lead, and Zamora doubled after Wilder reached on an infield error.
Austin St. Laurent's RBI groundout scored Wilder, and Zamora raced home on Tolley's two-out single to center.
The Thundering Herd responded with a pair of runs in the third, capitalizing on two defensive lapses, but App State moved ahead 6-3 in its half of the inning thanks to Zamora's shift-beating single to right to score Quintero.
After
Grey LaSpaluto threw a clean sixth in his first inning after replacing starter
Bradley Wilson, the Mountaineers pushed their lead to 9-3 on Holderbach's homer with two runners aboard. St. Laurent had led off the frame with an infield single, and Church drew a one-out walk to bring Holderbach to the plate.
Wilson allowed two earned runs in five effective innings, finishing with two strikeouts and two walks in a 97-pitch outing.
The teams will wrap up the series with a rubber game on Saturday, with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
The 2024 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
