BOONE, NC UNC Greensboro held Appalachian State to just nine hits to take the Southern Conference opener with a 9-3 victory in Boone, NC. The Spartans defeated the Mountaineers by the exact same margin last year in the first game of the SoCon Tournament.
In the first inning, the Mountaineers broke away with a three-run lead, but it was all they could put together as the Spartans kept them silent through to inning nine. UNCG tallied two three-run innings and divided the other three between the second and the seventh to grab their first conference win of the season. The Spartans turned a season-high three double plays to leave the Mountaineer with 11 runners stranded on base.
The game's first run came by way of a wild pitch from the Spartan mound. Appalachian was able to score twice more in the inning, one off of a single and the other off of a double.
UNCG chipped the lead down to one in the second with a two-run single up the middle by third baseman Ray Quinones.
Neither team could plate a runner over the next three innings to leave the score at 3-2 in favor of Appalachian, moving out of the fifth.
The Spartans took the lead and control of the game with three runs in inning six. A right center triple by right fielder Sean Snell in the seventh, followed by a single through the left side by left fielder Pedro Leon boosted UNCG to a 6-3 lead.
The blue and gold capped off their scoring drive in the ninth with three more runs. Two crossed the plate by way of walks and the third reached on a fielder's choice.
After holding off the Mountaineers in the bottom of nine, UNCG walked away with the 9-3 victory.
The Spartans turned a season-high three double plays while in Boone. Second baseman Tim Carrier and first baseman Ricky Orton took care of two runners in the second inning with a 4-3 toss. Two innings later, shortstop Matt Gaski got in on the action to go 6-4-3 for the two-for-one. The same three teamed up once again in the seventh to tab the season record.
The Spartan bats were led by Ray Quinones who was 2-for-3 with three RBI and one run. Pedro Leon was 4-for-5 with three hits and one RBI. Appalachian State's Rand Smith and Wes Hobson were both 2-for-4 on the evening.
UNCG's pitcher of record, junior Greg Martin (2-0), tabbed his second win of the season after pitching a season high 7.2 innings with five strikeouts. ASU's Josh Dowdy (1-4) tallied his fourth loss of the season after giving up nine hits and five runs.
UNCG and ASU will meet again tomorrow at 3pm and will follow-up with a 1pm start on Sunday.
For news about UNCG baseball, complete season schedule, and any other information regarding Spartan athletics log onto www.UNCGSpartans.com.
# # UNCG # #
UNC Greensboro 9, Appalachian State 3 (Mar 21, 2008 at Boone, N.C.)
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UNC Greensboro... 020 003 103 - 9 13 1 (13-5, 1-0 SoCon)
Appalachian State... 300 000 000 - 3 9 2 (11-9, 0-1 SoCon)
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Pitchers: UNC Greensboro - Greg Martin; James White(8); Wes McCall(9).
Appalachian State - Dowdy; Mills(6); Quate(8); Teague(9).
Win-Greg Martin (2-0)
Loss-Dowdy (1-4)
