Appalachian State and Georgia Southern played a close baseball game for 4 1/2 innings on Saturday, as ASU limited the damage of 5 hits and 2 errors to climb to within 2 runs. With the Eagles leading 4-2 going into the bottom of the 5th, the wheels fell off for the Mountaineers.
The Apps surrendered 5 hits, 3 of which did not leave the infield and committed a costly 2-run error as Georgia Southern sent 11 men to the plate and scored 7 runs in the frame. Following a leadoff double by Eric Phillips, Will Calloway looked Phillips back to the bag for a second too long on a ground ball by Chase Griffin and Griffin reached 1st base safely. After a misplayed sacrifice bunt, a 2-run single by Hunter Thomas, a 2-run error by Jamie Nunn and a 2-run infield hit by Eric Phillips, the game was out of reach at 11-2. GSU cruised to a 13-3 victory as Appalachian never threatened again. With the loss, ASU drops to 25-8 overall with a 10-4 mark in SoCon play. GSU improves to 21-16 overall, 9-8 in conference.
As is sometimes the case in baseball, ASU had seemingly everything possible go wrong in the course of a frustrating half inning. However, despite the letdown in game 2, the Mountaineers can still accomplish their goal and come away with a series win on Sunday. Along with claiming the regular season series with the Eagles, a win would strengthen the Mountaineers' hold on 1st place in the Southern Conference, as the College of Charleston lost to Samford today and dropped to 13-7 in conference play. Junior Rob Marcello (4-2, 4.30 ERA) will square off against Georgia Southern sophomore Will Middour (1-2, 4.61 ERA) in the rubber match at 1:30 PM.
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