May 11, 2008

Box Score

BOONE, N.C. -- Andrew Franco's pinch-hit two-out, two-run triple in the sixth inning lifted Appalachian State to a 4-2 win over Furman in the finale of a Southern Conference baseball series Sunday afternoon at Smith Stadium.

The win completed the three game series sweep for Appalachian State (29-23, 13-11 SoCon) while Furman (29-20, 15-9 SoCon) dropped its fifth consecutive contest and saw its remaining conference regular season title hopes extinguished. After a Tuesday clash against Tenenssee at Greenville's Fluor Field, Furman will entertain Georgia Southern in the final regular season league series of the season begining Thursday. The Paladins and Eagles are tied for third place in the league standings.

Pinch-hitting for Adam Beasley, Franco lined an Ian Parry pitch into the left center field gap to score Isaac Harrow and David Torwanicky to give Appalachian State a 3-2 lead. Harrow had opened the frame with a double but was still there after two outs. Following a 30-minute rain delay, action resumed with Torwanicky walking on four pitches before Franco came off the bench to deliver his decisive hit.

The Mountaineers added an insurance run in the eighth after Jason Rook led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice, and scored of Torwarnicky's single to center field off Paladin reliever Nick Karow.

Garrett Sherrill worked a scoreless eighth and ninth to earn the save and nail down the win for Appalachian State.

With Jay Jackson, one of its top run producers sitting on the bench with an injured left hand, Furman's punchless offense, which managed just five runs in the three-game series, spoiled a quality start by Paladin sophomore Kevin Gaid, who allowed only a run on four hits over five innings before departing with a 2-1 lead.

The loss was charged to Ian Parry (4-3), who surrendered two runs on two hits.

The beneficiary of ASU's two-run sixth, Adam Mills (3-0) earned the victory after recording the final out in the Furman sixth in relief of Mountaineer starter Aubrey Edens.

Wes Hobson and Jason Wallace led Appalachian State's nine-hit attack with two hits each.

Marcus Rose led off the game with a home run, and Joey Rodgers went deep in the second to give Furman a 2-0 lead. But that would do it for the amemic Paladin offense, which was shutout on just four hits over the final seven innings.