After dropping the series finale in convincing fashion to SoCon rival College of Charleston last weekend and giving up a late lead to fall 6-3 Tuesday evening at Gardner-Webb, Appalachian had lost consecutive games for the first time in 2012. While the series win over the Cougars was a positive, the typically high-powered ASU offense managed only 6 total runs in consecutive losses, well below their season average of 7.8 runs per game. With the uncharacteristic struggles of the offense and the team riding their first losing streak of the season, it was fair to question how the Apps would respond to their first real taste of adversity.
There would be no time to dwell on the brief losing streak as another test was on the horizon with a weekend series in Statesboro against long-time rival Georgia Southern. The Mountaineers were up to the challenge on Friday as they topped GSU 5-1, snapping a 2-game ASU skid and also putting an end to the Eagles' 7-game winning streak. While GSU has dominated the overall series with a commanding 52-16 lead, Appalachian has now won 5 of the last 6 over the Eagles. The win moved Appalachian to 25-7 overall and 10-3 in the SoCon, while senior Ryan Arrowood improved to a perfect 6-0 on the season. Georgia Southern fell to 20-16 overall with an even 8-8 mark in conference. GSU ace and likely first-round draft pick Chris Beck's record dropped to 4-3, as he was unable to overcome a rough 1st inning.
The Mountaineers touched up Beck early, as they loaded the bases with one out after singles by Tyler Zupcic and Will Calloway were followed by a walk to Daniel Kassouf. After Beck got Tyler Tewell swinging for the second out, Jeremy Dowdy drew a bases loaded walk to plate the game's first run. The ASU 2-out magic continued as a Trey Holmes single up the middle plated two more runs and staked the Apps to an early 3-0 lead.
After Ryan Arrowood induced a bases loaded double play from Tyler Avera to get out of the 2nd inning unscathed, a 3rd inning laser shot off the left field foul pole from Daniel Kassouf stretched the Mountaineers' lead to 4-0 and swung momentum clearly on the side of the black and gold. The Eagles got the single run back in the bottom half of the 3rd, as they took advantage of two walks to score their lone run of the evening on an RBI bunt single off the bat of Eric Phillips. Arrowood clamped down from there, posting two consecutive strikeouts to escape the inning with a 4-1 lead.
While neither pitcher was particularly sharp (each had five walks on the day), Ryan was able to get timely strikeouts to limit the damage and also benefited from error-free defense behind him. The Eagles committed two errors on the day. Beck did settle in after the 3rd inning but the early damage proved to be too much as Arrowood's "bend but don't break" performance lasted seven strong innings, with a final line of 7 IP, 5 BB, 7K and 1 ER.
The Apps tacked on a late run in the 9th as a Will Calloway single drove home Hector Crespo on a controversial call at the plate. Home plate umpire Brian Simmons ruled that Hector slid around the tag of Chase Griffin and Eagles manager Rodney Hennon was ejected for arguing call. Due to his ejection, Hennon will not be able to manage game two this afternoon.
First pitch for game two of the series is at 6:00 PM tonight at Clements Stadium. Seth Grant (6-1, 2.22 ERA) will face off against GSU junior Justin Hess (1-1, 5.67 ERA). Free audio is available through the official Georgia Southern athletics site. You can also purchase a live video stream for this weekend's series for $7.95. To take advantage of either option, click here.
*Photo from GoASU.com
No comments:
Post a Comment