CHARLESTON, S.C. – Second-seeded UNCG rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh to take a 4-3 lead, but No. 6 Appalachian State came back with two runs in the bottom half and another in the eighth to defeat the Spartans, 6-4, in the Southern Conference Tournament on Thursday.
The loss eliminated the Spartans from the tournament and ended their season with a 34-20 record. The Mountaineers improved to 32-36 with the win.
With UNCG trailing 3-1 going into the seventh, Thomas Troelstrup hit a double into the left-field corner to score John Hein from first and make it 3-2. Kris Richards follows with a single to center field to move Troelstrup up to third.
Ray Quinones then singled through the left side to score Troelstrup and tie the game before Trevor Edwards hit a ground-rule double to take a 4-3 lead.
The Spartan lead didn't last long as the Mountaineers got a leadoff single from Jeremy Dowdy. After a fly out, Tyler Zupcic doubled to right center to move Dowdy to third.
After a UNCG pitching change, Trey Holmes hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Dowdy and tie the game at four. Jack Myers then singled to center field to score Zucic to take a 5-4 lead.
Colby Hyatt (8-3) picked up the loss after allowing five runs (three earned) on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings of work. Reliever Will Helms (4-0) was credited with the win after pitching just a third of an inning and allowing only one hit. Taylor Miller recorded his 12 save of the year by pitching the final two innings and yielding only one hit.
Bobby Martin led the Spartans as he went 3-5 at the plate with an RBI, while Thomas Troelstrup and Kris Richards both added a pair of hits.
Holmes went 2-3 with a pair of RBI for Appalachian State and Zupcic added two hits and scored a pair of runs.
The Mountaineers didn't waste any time in taking the lead from the Spartans as they pushed a run across the plate in the bottom of the first. Zupcic led off with a single and Holmes followed with a single of his own. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners over, Daniel Kassouf grounded out to third to score Zupcic and take a 1-0 lead.
Appalachian State would add a pair of unearned runs in the fourth to make it 3-0 before an RBI single by Martin in the fifth made it 3-1.
AGATE
Appalachian State 6, UNCG 4
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UNCG................ 000 010 300 - 4 11 1 (34-20)
Appalachian State... 100 200 21X - 6 11 0 (32-26)
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Pitchers: UNCG - Colby Hyatt; Jarett Miller(7); Brandon Browne(8) and Trevor Edwards. Appalachian State - Nathan Hyatt; David Port(7); Will Helms(7); Taylor Miller(8) and Jeremy Dowdy.
Win-Will Helms(4-0) Save-Taylor Miller(12) Loss-Colby Hyatt(8-3) T-2:42 A-457
Weather: 77 and sunny
- UNCG -
