BOONE, N.C. - The Jaguars saw action from all over the lineup as they took the series opener, 9-5.
Micah Morgan started the scoring early as he knocked an RBI single in the first inning, then after loading the bases, Borges hit a two-RBI single, then Rett Johnson tallied one more to log four in the opening frame. Appalachian State responded in kind, with a three-run homer to keep the Jags in arms' reach.
Five straight innings of zeroes by both sides left the Jags still holding on to the one-run lead, but at this point with Jaxon Shineflew on the mound for South. Cam Hill's night ended after 4.0 innings, seven hits, three runs, and three strikeouts.
USA blew the game open as Tyler Borges, then Johnson, then Nathan Wood hit solo home runs in succession in the seventh inning. Wild pitches in the eighth clocked in another two for the Jags, making it 9-3. Back-to-back homers for the Mountaineers in the bottom of the inning gave life back to the App State dugout, but Shineflew shut them down to close out the eighth, then came out to put the nail in the coffin in the ninth. Shineflew ended with 5.0 innings, two hits and two runs, six strikeouts, and matched Cam Hill's zero walks allowed.
Winning Pitcher: Jaxon Shineflew (1-0)
Losing Pitcher: Bradley Wilson (2-3)
QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Calvi
Overall thoughts on the game: Game starts and stops on the mound, and defense. No walks tonight. None, against the best offense in the league. Cannot give them free passes. So that was checked. We checked the box on that one in the game plan coming into it. I mean, we jumped, they jumped, and then Hill you know, kept at it, just unfazed. I love his stability, his mental stability out there, and he's a good pitcher. We jumped their guy early; had a good game plan coming into it, and, man, just our pitching and defense. The nine runs we scored with two outs, that's just a team that understands how important each and every pitch, each and every out is. You get three outs per inning, 27 per game, and we didn't throw any of those away. So just super proud of our guys' effort, top to bottom. Playing the best offense in the league at their park, and they play well here, the numbers indicate, and where they go their talent travels. So yeah, big win for us. The last thing I wanted to do was trade blows with these guys. I knew if we got into a slugging match, that probably wasn't a recipe for success, but the no walks in the way our guys pitched, Shineflew-these these kids, they're not freshmen anymore,
Rett Johnson is not a freshman, Shineflew-all our all our young guys are not freshmen anymore. So just super proud of their effort. Glad to have a Friday night win.
UP NEXT
South Alabama plays game two against the Mountaineers on Saturday, May 4 at an adjusted time due to expected weather. First pitch will now take place at 6 p.m.
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