BOONE, N.C. — Alex Leach had an RBI triple in the seventh inning and a two-run double in the eighth to lead Appalachian State University baseball’s comeback from a 4-0 deficit in Wednesday’s 6-4 victory over High Point at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
Appalachian State (5-1) trailed 4-0 after just two-and-a-half innings and 4-1 going into the bottom of the seventh but rallied for three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to claim its fourth-straight come-from-behind victory.
Leach got the rally started in the seventh when he lined a triple into the gap in left-center field, driving in William Head from first to cut the Mountaineers’ deficit to 4-2. One batter later, Leach made it 4-3 when he scored on Will Callaway’s sacrifice fly to left.
After Noah Holmes drew a two-out full-count walk, Josh Zumbrook capped the three-run seventh-inning rally by roping another full-count pitch down the left-field line to bring Holmes home all the way from first base with the tying run.
The score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the eighth when Leach struck again, this time with a two-out, two-run bloop double into shallow left field that gave the Mountaineers a 6-4 advantage.
Closer Rob Marcello easily made the lead stand up in the ninth, retiring the side in order for his third save in as many opportunities.
In addition to the run-scoring triple in the seventh and the go-ahead double in the eighth, Leach also drove in Appalachian State’s first run with an RBI groundout in the third. With the 2-for-4, four-RBI afternoon, the red-hot sophomore is now 10-for-20 (.500) with eight extra-base hits (five doubles, a triple and two home runs), 12 RBI and eight runs scored over the past five games.
Despite Leach’s heroics at the plate, the story of the day was the performance turned in by Appalachian’s bullpen. Relievers Josh Wilson, Taylor Thurber and Marcello combined to limit High Point (5-3) to just two hits over five scoreless innings to close out the ballgame. Wilson was especially impressive with four shutout stanzas in his first outing of the year while Thurber (1-0) worked a perfect eighth inning for the first win of his career.
Spencer Angelis went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI to pace the Panthers. Making his first appearance of the year, HPU’s Jaime Shultz (0-1) allowed two hits in 1.1 innings of work to suffer the loss.
Appalachian State begins the defense of its 2012 Southern Conference championship on Friday when it opens a three-game SoCon series at Davidson (4-2). The conference opener is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Davidson’s Wilson Field.
NOTES: Appalachian State has overcome deficits in each of its last four victories ... the only time this season that the Mountaineers didn’t trail was in their 6-3 opening-day triumph at No. 8 NC State ... for only the second time in six games this season, Appalachian State did not hit a home run in Wednesday’s win ... however, with 10 homers on the season, Appalachian is still well ahead of its pace from a season ago, when it did not go deep for the 10th time until the 17th game of the campaign ... for the first time this season, the Mountaineers did not steal a base ... Appalachian had multiple stolen bases in each of its first five games ... Marcello has not surrendered a hit in his three appearances this season ... only one runner has even reached base against Appalachian’s left-handed closer this season (on an HBP with two outs in the ninth inning of last Sunday’s 8-5 win over Butler) ... Head went 2-for-3 to raise his batting average to a team-best .444.
Appalachian State (5-1) trailed 4-0 after just two-and-a-half innings and 4-1 going into the bottom of the seventh but rallied for three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to claim its fourth-straight come-from-behind victory.
Leach got the rally started in the seventh when he lined a triple into the gap in left-center field, driving in William Head from first to cut the Mountaineers’ deficit to 4-2. One batter later, Leach made it 4-3 when he scored on Will Callaway’s sacrifice fly to left.
After Noah Holmes drew a two-out full-count walk, Josh Zumbrook capped the three-run seventh-inning rally by roping another full-count pitch down the left-field line to bring Holmes home all the way from first base with the tying run.
The score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the eighth when Leach struck again, this time with a two-out, two-run bloop double into shallow left field that gave the Mountaineers a 6-4 advantage.
Closer Rob Marcello easily made the lead stand up in the ninth, retiring the side in order for his third save in as many opportunities.
In addition to the run-scoring triple in the seventh and the go-ahead double in the eighth, Leach also drove in Appalachian State’s first run with an RBI groundout in the third. With the 2-for-4, four-RBI afternoon, the red-hot sophomore is now 10-for-20 (.500) with eight extra-base hits (five doubles, a triple and two home runs), 12 RBI and eight runs scored over the past five games.
Despite Leach’s heroics at the plate, the story of the day was the performance turned in by Appalachian’s bullpen. Relievers Josh Wilson, Taylor Thurber and Marcello combined to limit High Point (5-3) to just two hits over five scoreless innings to close out the ballgame. Wilson was especially impressive with four shutout stanzas in his first outing of the year while Thurber (1-0) worked a perfect eighth inning for the first win of his career.
Spencer Angelis went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI to pace the Panthers. Making his first appearance of the year, HPU’s Jaime Shultz (0-1) allowed two hits in 1.1 innings of work to suffer the loss.
Appalachian State begins the defense of its 2012 Southern Conference championship on Friday when it opens a three-game SoCon series at Davidson (4-2). The conference opener is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Davidson’s Wilson Field.
NOTES: Appalachian State has overcome deficits in each of its last four victories ... the only time this season that the Mountaineers didn’t trail was in their 6-3 opening-day triumph at No. 8 NC State ... for only the second time in six games this season, Appalachian State did not hit a home run in Wednesday’s win ... however, with 10 homers on the season, Appalachian is still well ahead of its pace from a season ago, when it did not go deep for the 10th time until the 17th game of the campaign ... for the first time this season, the Mountaineers did not steal a base ... Appalachian had multiple stolen bases in each of its first five games ... Marcello has not surrendered a hit in his three appearances this season ... only one runner has even reached base against Appalachian’s left-handed closer this season (on an HBP with two outs in the ninth inning of last Sunday’s 8-5 win over Butler) ... Head went 2-for-3 to raise his batting average to a team-best .444.
