Box score

BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State's Beau Myers drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Mountaineers to a 4-3 series-opening win over the 21st-ranked University of South Alabama baseball team Friday at Smith Stadium.

Appalachian State (9-25, 4-12 SBC) trailed by two runs entering the ninth inning, but rallied for three runs to earn the victory. Grayson Atwood and Chandler Seagle reached on consecutive walks from Jaguar left-hander Shane McKinley to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt by Drake Zupcic moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Matt Vernon followed with a two-run single back up the middle to tie the game at 3-3. Brian Bauk and Leonard then drew consecutive walks to load the bases before Myers' base on balls scored Vernon with the game-winning run.

The Mountaineers pushed across the game's first run in the bottom of the second. Conner Leonard led off the inning with a single to center field, and later scored on an RBI groundout to shortstop by Myers for a 1-0 lead.    

South Alabama (26-9, 15-1 SBC) answered with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to take a one-run lead. Carter Perkins reached on a one-out single to right-center field, and was lifted for pinch-runner Dylan Hardy who then stole second and moved to third on a groundout to second by Brendan Donovan. Danny Martinez then lifted a 2-0 pitch from App State left-hander Bobby Hampton over the right field wall for a two-run home run – his second of the season – and a 2-1 Jaguar lead.

USA added its final run of the contest in the top of the eighth. Adam Wolfe led off the inning with a single through the right side of the infield, stole second and advanced to third on a single to right field by Travis Swaggerty to put runners at the corners with no outs. Cole Billingsley followed with an RBI bunt single down the first base line to score Wolfe and extend the USA lead to 3-1 after 7 ½ innings.

"The first two-thirds of the game were very disappointing offensively," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "Kevin Hill pitched very well, but we didn't do enough offensively. I give their starter (Bobby) Hampton credit; he hung in there and made pitches when he had to and did a nice job. We let him pitch to us, basically, until the seventh inning. (Danny) Martinez hit the home run and (Cole) Billingsley gets down the safety squeeze, and we score three runs and you think it's going to hold up. What really hurt us was we had runners at second and third with one out, and then had back-to-back strikeouts looking. That hurt us. 

"We didn't play well tonight; we didn't do the things you need to do to play winning baseball. We didn't deserve to win tonight. But we'll be ready to go tomorrow. We're not used to losing around here, and it doesn't feel good. We understand it is part of the game over the course of a long season – sometimes you have blunders like that. But that's not who this team is, and we'll have an opportunity to show who we are tomorrow."

App State right-hander Reed Howell (3-1) struck out two in two scoreless innings in relief to earn his third win of the season. McKinley (1-2) allowed three runs on one hit with one strikeout and five walks in two-thirds of an inning in the loss. Jaguar right-hander Kevin Hill tossed eight innings, and struck out eight with three walks while allowing one run on six hits without factoring in the decision. 

Martinez went 1-for-3 with a home run, two RBI, and one run scored to lead USA at the plate. Leonard went 3-for-4 with one run scored to lead the Mountaineers offensively.

The series will continue with game two Saturday at 2 p.m. (CT).

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).