GREENSBORO, N.C.  – UNCG baseball drops its second straight decision to App State on Saturday, coming within a run of the Mountaineers in a 6-5 final. Both sides held leads on the afternoon, but it would be App State's that held out, with the Spartans moving to 6-3 on the year.

Both sides put up crooked numbers in the first inning with Appalachian State scoring three in the top half. The Spartans responded with a pair of their own however, with designated hitter Sam Koruschak picking up a two-RBI single. Greg Hardison extended his hitting streak to nine straight games after a leadoff double, as the Spartans loaded the bases on a pair of hit by pitches. Koruschak drove in Hardison and Caleb Webster to cut the visitors' lead to one, collecting his third and fourth RBI of the campaign. 

UNCG went on to take the lead in the second, with Josh Madole and Hogan Windish each getting an RBI knock in the frame. Following up a fielder's choice from Hardison; Webster, Madole and Windish strung together three straight hits, with the latter scoring Webster on a double down the left field line. 

The Mountaineers pulled those two runs right back in the third however, with both sides trading shots in the sixth. With Hardison grabbing his third double of the afternoon, the left fielder scored two at bats later off of Windish' second RBI hit of the afternoon to put things 6-5 in favor of App State.

Taking over in the third, right-hander Austin Koehn gave up a single hit and a base on balls during 3.1 innings of relief work, while striking out a team-high three App State batters during his time on the hill. 

Trailing by a run going into the 7th, the Spartan pitching staff shut down the App State hitters, but were unable to tally the tying marker themselves. Right-hander Austin Parsley inherited a pair of runners in scoring position while taking over in the eighth, but would close out the inning with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout. Barring an intentional walk, Parsley neglected to surrender a runner in his 2.0 innings of work, however the final score remained unchanged by the end of the ninth, with App State taking home the 6-5 victory.

Things To Know
-- Greg Hardison finished 3-for-5 with three doubles and three runs scored, as the Spartans combined for five two-baggers in all
-- The first four in the Spartan lineup combined for seven of their team's 10 hits on the day; Hardison (3), Webster (1), Madole (1) and Windish (2)
-- UNCG stranded 11 base runners against the Mountaineers on Saturday, giving them a total of 23 LOBs over the first two games of the series

Coming Up Next
UNCG will look to send App State home with a loss in this week's Sunday series finale, with first pitch currently scheduled for 1 p.m. inside UNCG Baseball Stadium.

-- UNCG –