Heartbreaker in Columbia Snaps 12-Game ASU Win Streak

After putting together an impressive 12-game win streak that included 2 wins over LSU, 2 wins over Duke, a 4-game sweep of Rider and a 3-game sweep of SoCon foe Davidson, the Mountaineers fell in a heartbreaker Wednesday night in Columbia to the South Carolina Gamecocks. While a competitive loss to the two-time defending National Champion is nothing for the Apps to hang their heads about, the opportunity to win was there from the beginning until costly mistakes proved to be the difference.

Appalachian stormed out of the gates as Hector Crespo and Tyler Zupcic strung together seeing-eye singles to begin the game, followed immediately by a Will Calloway 3-run home run that barely cleared the fence in left center. Before an out was even recorded, ASU became only the second team all season to score more than 2 runs against South Carolina pitching. Tyler Tewell added a moonshot solo home run to right field that staked freshman Jeffrey Springs to a 4-0 lead before throwing his first pitch. However, the Mountaineers' bats went silent from there, as Gamecock freshman Jordan Montgomery and the USC bullpen combined to retire 23 straight ASU batters.

While the Carolina arms held ASU at bay, they chipped away at the lead with 1 run in the 2nd and 2 more in the 4th. The real damage, however, came in the bottom of the 7th as Appalachian clung to a 4-3 lead. After loading the bases with a single, 2 Appalachian errors and an intentional walk, Evan Marzilli clubbed a bases clearing double to right center that proved to be the difference. While the Apps escaped the inning without further damage, the 6-4 difference held up despite some 9th inning drama.

After being held hitless since the 1st inning, Tyler Zupcic led off the ASU 9th with a single to center field and advanced to 2nd base on a Will Calloway ground out. That brought clean-up man Daniel Kassouf to the plate with one man out, representing the tying run. Daniel belted the first pitch from USC closer Evan Beal to left center for what looked to be a game-tying home run. However, Evan Marzilli burned the Mountaineers again as he made an amazing diving catch at the wall and proceeded to double off an over aggressive Zupcic to end the game, as he was halfway between 3rd and home when the ball was caught.

There are few sports that can rip a fan's heart out like baseball and the final play of Wednesday's game is a prime example. Despite making many uncharacteristic mistakes in the field and on the base paths, ASU had a chance to hand South Carolina their first home loss of 2012 and eventually fell just short. However, the Mountaineers stood toe to toe with the elite program in college baseball and should still be full of confidence as the Southern Conference slate gets into full swing.

Appalachian (14-3, 3-0) heads home for a key 3-game set against The Citadel (8-8, 1-2) at Smith Stadium this weekend. First pitch is 3:00 Friday, followed by a 2:00 start on Saturday and the 1:00 finale on Sunday. Appalachian will send Arrowood, Marcello and Grant to the hill as they face the traditional SoCon power and look to solidify themselves as one of the top contenders for the conference crown. While the Bulldogs are off to a slow start this season, they are a talented team that has historically had great success against ASU. It will be very important for the team to have a short memory, shake off the disappointing setback to USC and focus on staying atop the SoCon standings.

Mountaineers Complete Weekend Sweep, Set to Host Duke

Riding the momentum of a seven game winning streak, Appalachian is off to one of the best starts in program history. After following up a 1-0 shutout win over LSU with a dominating 11-1 triumph to secure a series victory in Baton Rouge, the Mountaineers have continued their inspired play and have not lost since. The Apps concluded their season opening 7-game road trip with a 5-3 comeback victory in Greensboro over North Carolina A&T to return home with an impressive 5-2 overall record.

Upon arriving to Boone with some early buzz around the team, Appalachian overpowered the visiting Rider Broncs in a one-sided 4-game sweep. The Mountaineers outscored Rider by a cumulative score of 53-15 and sent them home winless for the weekend. While the Broncs have appeared in the NCAA Regionals in two of the past four seasons and are a traditionally strong baseball program, they were thoroughly dominated from the outset.

I was able to make it up for the Sunday finale and watched the Apps capitalize on nearly every Rider misstep on their way to a 15-4 romp to put the exclamation point on an already impressive series. The Mountaineers blew the game open with a 9-run 3rd inning, with 6 runs coming with two outs. The victory moved Appalachian to 9-2 overall and into the top 20 in the RPI. While it is certainly too early to put much value on computer rankings, it is a testament to the good work done thus far.

Next up on the schedule is the Duke Blue Devils, who pay a visit to Smith Stadium tomorrow, March 7 at 5:30PM. It marks the Devils' first visit to the High Country and to mark this event, Appalachian is encouraging all fans to bring any Duke hats, t-shirts or other apparel to the game, where they can be traded in for a free ASU t-shirt. Although it is Duke that plays in the baseball-rich Atlantic Coast Conference, they enter Wednesday's game coming off a 12-4 setback to Western Carolina while the Mountaineers are fresh off two days rest and not short on confidence.

The contest will feature an all-freshman pitching match-up as LHP Jeffrey Springs will face Duke freshman RHP Nick Piscotty. For those not able to make the trip up the mountain, the game will be available to watch or listen to online here. A win tomorrow would maintain the Mountaineers' perfect home record going into their 3-game series with Davidson this weekend to open up conference play.