By Matt Present. BOONE, N.C. — After falling behind by five runs in the middle innings, App State put together several late-inning rallies, but the Mountaineers stranded the bases loaded in the seventh and eighth innings, falling 9-8 to Marshall in the series opener Thursday at Smith Stadium.
It was a back-and-forth affair that featured a combined 23 hits in the contest.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, the Mountaineers (15-8, 3-4) leveled the score in the second on back-to-back doubles from Adam Quintero and Hunter Wilder.
Marshall (9-16, 3-4) then jumped in front in the third inning with a three-run home run, and after Austin St. Laurent blasted a solo home run in the third to get a run back, the Herd put together another three-run inning in the sixth to push their advantage to 7-2.
In the bottom of the sixth, App State responded with a three-run inning of its own. Graham Smiley and Wilder each walked, and then with two outs, Joseph Zamora belted a three-run home run, his second of the season, bringing the deficit to 7-5.
The Herd answered with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning, but the Mountaineers responded again with a run in the seventh and two in the eighth, but left six men aboard across the final two frames and 11 total in the ballgame.
Collin Welch was impressive in relief, striking out four across the final 3.1 innings, and allowing just two unearned runs.
St. Laurent, Banks Tolley, Braxton Church, and Zamora all finished with multi-hit games.
The two teams will play game two of the series Friday at 5 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
