March 31, 2007
Box Score
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Jason Rook pitched seven strong innings and Jerod Faggart homered and drove in three runs to power Appalachian State to a 7-1 win over Furman in Southern Conference baseball action Saturday evening at Furman Stadium.
The win marked the sixth straight triumph for Appalachian State (17-11, 6-2 SoCon) and the fourth consecutive loss for Furman (8-18, 4-4 SoCon). The Mountaineers will attempt to complete their second straight league series sweep in Sunday's 1:00 p.m. finale.
Rook (4-3) surrendered only five hits and a walk while striking out five. Bobby Hubbard's solo home run in the seventh accounted for Furman's lone run. The Paladins managed only seven hits in the contest and committed three errors, giving them 10 miscues in the series' first two games.
The Mountaineers, meanwhile, collected 10 hits, nine of which came in the first five innings against Paladin starting and losing pitcher Jay Jackson (1-2).
One of the few bright spots for Furman was the work of freshman reliever Ian Parry, who allowed only one hit in four shutout innings of work.
Appalachian State would score all the runs it would need in the second inning in taking a 2-0 lead. Isaac Harrow drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on David Towarnicky's double to left centerfield. Faggert followed with an RBI single up the middle to plate Harrow, and Towarnicky scored after Furman second baseman Marcus Rose dropped a pop fly off the bat of Nick DeRose.
The Mountaineers made it 4-0 in the fourth. Faggert was hit by a Jackson pitch to lead off, and moved around to third on Chris Baker's soft single down the left field line. Baker then stole second, and advanced to third after Paladin catcher Nick Karow's throw to second bounced into the outfield, allowing Faggert to score. Tom Prosser capped the two-run frame with a sacrifice fly that plated Baker.
ASU took control of the contest in the fiifth with three runs, highlighted by a solo home run by Andrew Franco and Faggert's two-run blast to left field that stretched the Mountaineer advantage to 7-0.
Furman broke through in the seventh with Hubbard's lead off home run. Will Stembridge and Jay Jackson followed with back-to-back singles and advanced on a wild pitch before Rook settled down to retire Cole Franklin on a short fly to centerfield and Karow on a groundout.
Zach Quate and Brandon Graves worked scoreless eighth and ninth innings to preserve the victory for the Mountaineers.
