Baseball win their first home game of the season

The Appalachian Online The Mountaineers hosted their first home game of the season at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. In what was a hard-fought game by both sides, the Apps were able to prevail against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs by a score of 4-3.
A pitchers duel early on set the tone for the game. UNC Asheville changed their pitched eight times throughout.
The two teams went scoreless through the first three innings. Following a hit by senior shortstop Matt Vernon and junior centerfielder Chandler Seagle, who grounded into a fielder’s choice, junior left fielder Tyler Stroup blasted a line drive homerun to left-center bring home Seagle and give the Mountaineers a two-run lead.
“It was big,” Stroup said. “I was looking for something middle and it was there and I swung and it went over the fence. I was excited the team was excited, I think it kind of pumped us up to do better.”
Junior Conner Leonard practices his swing during the game against UNC Asheville.
After a scoreless fifth, sophomore starting pitcher Bobby Hampton gave up the first run in the form of a solo shot to straightaway centerfield cutting the lead in half. After a couple hits for the Bulldogs, Hampton let up a double down the left field line scoring one, making the score tied at two.
A pitching change would end Hampton’s day and bring in junior pitcher Reed Howell. Hampton went 5.2 innings pitched giving up six hits and two earned runs.
The Apps were unable to respond in the bottom half of the inning, keeping the lead in favor of Asheville. After another run scored by the Bulldogs in the top of the seventh, the Mountaineers found themselves in a one-run hole after having a two run lead.
The bottom of the seventh turned out to ...


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