After Georgia Southern jumped out to an early 3-0 lead Sunday on a shot to dead center off the bat of catcher Chase Griffin, Appalachian continued their season long 2-out heroics in the top half of the 4th. After Will Calloway singled with the bases clear, Daniel Kassouf and Tyler Tewell strung together RBI doubles to pull the Mountaineers back to within 3-2.
However, the Eagles had a response. After tacking on a single run in the 6th, GSU responded with a 2-out rally of their own to seemingly put the game away. A pair of singles from T.D. Davis and Stryker Brown were followed up by a back-breaking double from Tyler Avera off ASU closer Nathan Hyatt to stretch the Eagles' lead to 7-2.
Despite trailing by 5 runs late in the game, the Apps had one more rally in store. Hector Crespo led off the 8th inning with a single and following a Tyler Zupcic strikeout, Will Calloway reached on an error by shortstop Eric Phillips. As he has seemingly done in clutch situations all season, Daniel Kassouf came through with a towering 3-run shot to left field to cut the deficit to 7-5 and breathe some life into the Mountaineers.
With the bases empty and 2 outs in the 9th, Coach Pollard decided to send Preston Troutman to the plate in place of Noah Holmes. The move paid off, as Troutman legged out an infield hit and turned the line-up over to Crespo, who hit a sharp single up the middle. A double to left field by Tyler Zupcic chased home Troutman but was played cleanly by Michael Burruss, who held the speedy Crespo at 3rd, preserving a 7-6 GSU lead. The seemingly safe lead was in great jeopardy as Will Calloway stepped to the plate with the tying run at 3rd and the go-ahead run in scoring position as well. Calloway hit a sinking line drive to center field and Scooter Williams made a shoestring catch to save the day for Georgia Southern and send Appalachian home with stinging series loss.
The loss dropped ASU to 25-9 overall and a 10-5 mark in Southern Conference play. Dropping the finale in such dramatic fashion is a real punch to the gut, taking away a potential series win in Statesboro that could have been a springboard for the Apps. ASU is now in a virtual tie atop the SoCon with Charleston (14-7), Elon (12-6) and Western Carolina (10-5). The Mountaineers will play 10 of their next 13 in the friendly confines of Smith Stadium, where they are 17-1 on the season. ASU will host Furman (17-20, 7-11) for a weekend series beginning Friday and will travel to Wofford (14-22, 3-12) for a 3-game set next weekend. After tough series with Elon, Charleston and Georgia Southern, the pressure is now on ASU to come away with wins over the teams in the bottom half of the conference. A strong showing over the next two weeks could place the Mountaineers in a very favorable position for the stretch run, while continuing their current slide could remove them from title contention.
Up Next:
ASU will host Eastern Kentucky for a 2-game set beginning tomorrow, April 17 at 6:00PM. Appalachian will conclude their series with the Colonels at 2:00PM on Wednesday. The match-ups have not been officially announced, but I would expect to see Jamie Nunn and Jeffrey Springs get the nod for ASU. EKU comes in with an unimpressive overall record of 16-17 but have won 9 of their last 11 ballgames, while Appalachian has dropped 4 of their last 5.
Both games are available at GoASU.com, with a free audio stream and live video for all Premium members.
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