STATESBORO, Ga. – Sophomore left-handed pitcher Colin Schmid put on a pitching clinic on Friday night against Georgia Southern as he was able to strike out 13 batters, the most by any Appalachian State University baseball pitcher since at least 2003.
Schmid carved up the third-best offensive in the Sun Belt, holding the Eagles (22-13, 8-6 Sun Belt) to a 6-for-32 day, only allowing four batters to connect all game and issuing just one walk. The New Bern native threw 76 of his 113 total pitches on the night for strikes and struck out five of the nine batters in Georgia Southern's lineup at least once. His 13 strikeouts topped the previous career high of nine that he threw against South Alabama on March 17, 2016.
The Mountaineers (13-22, 4-10 Sun Belt) would strike out 18 of the Eagles' batters overall, as Reed Howell punched out five of six batters faced to close the final 2.0 innings of the game and secure the 7-3 victory and Howell's fifth save on the year to even up the series.
As if the prowess on the mound wasn't enough in Game Two, Appalachian's bats caught fire in the third inning when they launched back-to-back-to-back home runs in the inning to get the seven runs needed for the win. It's the second time this season that the Black and Gold have hit four jacks in a single game, the last time coming against then-No. 14 Louisiana en route to a 12-4 win – also in Game Two.
After Georgia Southern was able to put up one run in the second, App State began the enormous third inning with a screamer by Matt Vernon to left field before Drake Zupcic shot one back to the pitcher at full speed to be a base hit and force a throwing error by the pitcher that allowed Vernon to reached third.
With the baserunners on the corners, Tyler Stroup launched his seventh home run of the season, bringing everyone home and retaking the lead. In the next at-bat, Matt Brill went yard in a solo shot before Avery Jackson dropped a solo tank in left field in the very next at-bat.
Chandler Seagle was then able to single through the middle to keep the streak alive before Conner Leonard cranked one out of the stadium – his fourth of the season.
While Schmid mowed down the Eagles' lineup, Vernon, Zupcic and Leonard held down the fort at the plate, each finishing with two hits on the day, while Stroup, Brill, Jackson, Seagle, and Brian Bauk were able to all get singles during the game.
The Mountaineers will try to carry their momentum into Saturday and the deciding Game Three in Statesboro. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and is broadcast live on ESPN3 with App State radio streamed at appstatesports.com.
