Davidson College Athletics
Appalachian St.
Mountaineers Outlast Davidson 8-7
4/26/2008 5:35:33 PM | Baseball
Marc Gignac
BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State reliever Garrett Sherrill got Davidson freshman Danny Weiss to strike out on a 2-2 pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the ninth as the Mountaineers halted a Wildcat comeback bid and hung on for an 8-7 baseball victory at Beaver Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Trailing 8-5, Davidson (10-26, 2-15) cut into the lead in the ninth inning but could not get the tying run. After Chris FitzPatrick walked with one out, Sam Payne followed with a two-run homer to make the score 8-7. Pat Brady and Brett Shore reached on consecutive walks, and following a fly out by Hugh Eden, Zach Kayne walked to load the bases, bringing up Weiss.
Shore went 3-for-3 to lead the Wildcats, while Payne, Kayne and Matt Webb each collected two hits. Zac Long allowed one run and two hits in four innings of relief work on the mound.
The 'Cats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Eden led off with a double and scored later on a Webb single. Shore singled in the second and scored on a two-out single by Kayne to make the score 2-0.
A two-run single by Rand Smith, and a three-run homer by Jason Altenhof brought Appalachian State (23-22, 7-10) five runs in the home half of the second.
Davidson got a run back in the third when Chris FitzPatrick singled, stole second and scored on a Tommy Piacenza base hit, but the Mountaineers scored two runs in the bottom of the frame to make the margin 7-3.
Kayne singled home Shore in the sixth and scored later on an error to help Davidson begin the comeback, cutting the lead to 7-5. Appalachian State added what would become the winning run in the bottom of the eighth as Wes Hobson doubled, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a fielder's choice.
The 'Cats and Mountaineers will finish the series Sunday at noon at Beaver Stadium.
