By Matt Present. SHELBY, N.C. — App State blasted four home runs, including two from Kameron Miller, but the Mountaineers’ ninth inning rally fell short in a 10-9 loss to No. 13 Wake Forest at Keeter Stadium.
The App State (26-15-1) offense enjoyed a strong start to open the ballgame. Austin St. Laurent led off with a double to right field and Drew Holderbach followed by launching his sixth home run of the season, just inside the left field foul pole, to give the Mountaineers an instant 2-0 advantage.
Holderbach finished with three hits in the ballgame and extended his on-base streak to 42 consecutive games.
Later in the first inning, CJ Boyd belted a solo home run to left field, his 15th of the season and 32nd career blast to tie Tony Welborn (1983-86) for second most in program history.
After Wake Forest (28-16) got a run back in the bottom of the first inning, the Mountaineers stormed back in the second. Hunter Wilder worked a leadoff walk and stole second to get into scoring position for Joseph Zamora, who singled up the middle to drive him home. After Zamora advanced to second on a wild pitch, Holderbach ripped an RBI single through the left side to increase the lead to 5-1.
App State was strong on the mound too early in the ballgame. Everette Harris, making his first career start, tossed 2.2 innings, striking out three, before giving way to Cody Little who fired 1.1 scoreless innings without giving up a hit.
The Black and Gold built on their lead in the fifth. Boyd reached on a one-out walk and Miller followed with a mammoth two-run home run to left-center to take a 7-2 advantage.
Wake Forest responded with a big bottom half of the frame to take their first lead of the ballgame. After loading the bases and scoring a run on a wild pitch, the Demon Deacons reloaded them and hit a grand slam and a solo homer back-to-back to go in front, 8-7.
It remained a one-run game until the bottom of the eighth thanks to Ryan Sleeper who came out of the bullpen to strike out three over 1.2 scoreless innings.
After giving up a pair of runs in the bottom on the eighth on a two-out, two-run double, the Mountaineers continued to fight in the ninth. Holderbach led off with a single to left field and after two loud outs from Tolley and Boyd, Miller crushed his second home run of the night to get the Mountaineers back to within one. Unfortunately, the Black and Gold were unable to chip away any further.
The Mountaineers out-hit the 13th-ranked Demon Deacons 12-7 in the ballgame.
App State returns to Boone for a three-game series with South Alabama Friday through Sunday.
