Freshman catcher Jerod Faggart's three-run home run in the top of the eighth inning lifted Appalachian State University baseball to an 11-10 come-from-behind upset victory over College of Charleston Thursday morning.
The win eliminated the top-seeded Cougars from the Southern Conference Baseball Tournament while the fourth-seeded Mountaineers advance to play the loser of the Elon and The Citadel contest.
Faggart's two-out shot down the right-field line was part of a four- run inning with the other run being scored on an RBI single up the middle from Andrew Franco. Following the single, Nick DeRose earned a walk to put runners at first and second for Faggart.
The Apps (33-25) made CofC pay for its miscues in the field with eight unearned runs off of three Cougar errors. Garrett Sherrill collected the win, his 10th of the season and seventh in relief. Sherrill surrendered four runs in the fourth inning, his first on the mound, on a pair of two-run home runs. However, he quickly settled in and only allowed two hits, one of them an infield single, in the final five innings.
CofC's (39-19) Mike Lynn suffered the loss in relief, giving up four runs, all unearned, in 2.1 innings. Chris Campbell led CofC at the plate, going 2-for-5 with four RBI and a two-run home run.
Both teams scored runs in the first inning with ASU's Wes Hobson scoring on a Franco single through the right side. Franco finished the game 3-for-4 day with two runs and two RBI. Hobson had reached base on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a failed pick-off attempt.
The Cougars also took advantage of a botched pick-off attempt as Oliver Marmol advanced to second and then scored on a Graham Maiden single up the middle. CofC took the lead with three runs in the next inning off a hit batsmen with the bases loaded and a two-run single from Chris Campbell to deep centerfield.
The Apps answered with a four-run third inning that was extended by an error from the shortstop. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jerod Faggart brought David Rubinstein home with an infield singe. The next batter, Issac Harrow, reached on a throwing error from the shortstop that scored Franco. Tom Prosser then singled to centerfield to bring Faggart and Harrow across the plate.
However, CofC answered with two runs in the bottom of the third and then four runs in the fourth on a pair of two-run homers from Chris Campbell and Ben Lasater to give the Cougars a 10-5 lead. ASU trimmed the lead with two runs in the sixth inning off a two-run single from Rubinstein to right-center field before taking the lead in the eighth courtesy of Faggart's homer.
CofC threatened ASU's one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth and ninth, getting runners on base in both innings, but Sherrill ended both threats with routine outs and a line drive to shortstop to end the ballgame.
The Mountaineers will play the loser of Thursday night's Elon versus The Citadel game at 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon at Riley Park.
