Andrew Franco belted two homers and drove in seven runs in ASU's 23-8 win over UNCA (photo courtesy of Marc DeRose) Game statistics

Baseball Hammers UNCA, 23-8
by Appalachian Sports Information

April 1, 2008 - BOONE, N.C. – Andrew Franco belted two home runs, including a first-inning grand slam, and drove in seven runs to lead Appalachian State University baseball to a 23-8 thumping of UNC Asheville on Tuesday evening at Smith Stadium.

Franco finished 5-for-6 with a double and two runs scored to go along with the two homers and seven RBI, the most by a Mountaineer since David Towarnicky drove in seven versus Dayton on March 3 of last year.

Franco’s grand slam highlighted a nine-run first inning for Appalachian (15-13). ASU sent 13 batters to the plate in the stanza and needed just five hits – Franco’s slam, a triple by Jason Rook and three singles – to score the nine runs, its highest total in a single inning since plating 10 in the fifth frame of a 17-2 win over Coppin State on Feb. 17, 2007.

UNC Asheville cut the deficit to 10-7 with a six-run third, but the Mountaineers scored the game’s next 13 runs with two in the bottom of the third, three in the fifth, six in the sixth and two more in the seventh. Franco capped the six-run sixth with a two-run homer to left field and also contributed with an RBI double in the fifth and singles in the fourth and eighth.

Rook also turned in a sterling performance, going 4-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored. He collected three or more hits for the fourth time in the last six games and raised his batting average to a team-best .398. Left fielder David Rubinstein matched the longest hitting streak by a Mountaineer this season at 12 games with a 3-for-3, three-run, three-RBI effort.

In all, 12 different Apps registered hits. In addition to Franco’s two bombs, Wes Hobson and Jason Wallace also homered for the Mountaineers.

Zach Quate overcame some tough luck in the third to go six strong innings, allowing just four earned runs on eight hits to move to 2-0 on the season. UNCA starter Graham Baughn lasted just one-third of the inning, surrendering five runs on one hit with three walks and a hit batter to fall to 1-1 on the campaign.

Appalachian returns to action on Wednesday when it squares off with No. 5 North Carolina. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, N.C.