March 30, 2007

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Nick DeRose delivered a three-run double in the eighth inning to break open a close game and propel Appalachian State to an 8-4 win over error-plague Furman in Southern Conference baseball action Friday night at Furman Stadium.

DeRose's key hit helped Appalachian State (16-11, 5-2 SoCon) to its fifth straight win and gave Furman (8-17, 4-3 SoCon) its third straight loss. The Paladins committed a season high seven errors in the contest, which contributed to five unearned runs.

With the Mountaineers holding a 3-2 lead, ASU's Isaac Harrow led off the eight with a bloop single to center field. With one out, Tom Prosser walked and Chris Baker reached on an infield error to load the bases. DeRose then drilled a pitch from Paladin reliever Nick Hollstegge into the right field gap to clear the bases and give ASU a 6-2 lead.

Furman narrowed the gap to 6-4 in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run home run by Jay Jackson off Mountaineer reliever Garrett Sherrill, but ASU got the runs back in the ninth without the benefit of a hit. David Rubenstein reached base after Paladin first baseman Joe Daysh failed to glove a shoulder high throw from shortstop, and Daysh then made his second error of the frame after fielding a sharp grounder off the bat of Andrew Franco and throwing high to second base in a force attempt. Following a sacrifice, Rubenstein scored on a wild pitch, and Franco came home on Tom Prosser's groundout.

ASU starting pitcher Matt Andress (3-2) got the win after pitching seven innings and giving up five hits and two runs. He walked three and struck out three.

Matt Klinker (3-2) took to the loss for Furman after going 7 1/3 innings and yielding seven hits and four runs, though only two were earned. He walked one and struck out three.

Both teams collected eight hits. Jason Altenhof paced Appalachian State with a 2-for-5 performance. Furman was led at the plate by Jackson, Bobby Hubbard, and Spence Gibbs with two hits each. Gibbs and Jackson both homered for the Paladins but combined to commit three of the Paladins' seven errors.

Furman grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third inning on Hubbard's two-out single of Andress that scored Gibbs.

Appalachain State took the lead in the fourth on a Franco solo home run to left field and on a run by David Towarnicky, who drew a two-out walk, advanced to second on a Prosser single, and came around to score when Gibbs allowed a one-hop grounder to bounce off his glove into centerfield.

The Mountaineers made it 3-1 with another unearned run in the fifth. With one out, Jason Rook singled to right field and moved to second on a groundout before scoring on a Franco line drive to that bounced off the glove of Jackson in left field.

Furman narrowed the ASU lead to 3-2 with a Gibbs leadoff home run in the fifth before the Mountaineers broke the game open with the big three-run eighth.

The two teams will play game two of the series Saturday beginning at 6:00 p.m.