Diamond 'Dogs Hold Off Appalachian State, 6-5, Wednesday
May 06, 2010 | Baseball
BOONE, N.C. - Gardner-Webb used a three-run fourth inning to go in front for good, and used a pair of strikeouts from freshman Jeff Howell in the ninth to win 6-5 over Appalachian State.
Howell picked up his second save of the season, retiring the side in order with Gardner-Webb (21-23) holding onto a one-run edge. He fanned Doug Jones and Ryan Stetson to start the frame, then got a fly ball to center field to end it.
Gardner-Webb got RBI hits from Ty Boyles, Daniel Merck and Adam McFarland in the fourth inning off of Mountaineers' reliever Ryan Arrowood to take a 5-3 lead and - after Appalachian State trimmed the lead to 5-4 in the fifth, GWU added an insurance run in the sixth that would prove to be the game winner. Boyles doubled and later scored on another RBI hit from Merck.
Gardner-Webb went up 1-0 with an unearned run in the top of the second, but Appalachian State (31-19) responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead. The Mountaineers hit for the cycle in the frame, with a solo home run from Trey Dowdy, a double from David Towarnicky, a triple from Jones and a pair of singles before GWU reliever Kyle Paeplow came on to stop the rally.
Merck doubled and scored on a Kurt Fulginiti single in the top of the third to trim the lead to 3-2, and went ahead for good with its burst in the fourth.
Paeplow (2-0) was strong out of the pen to earn the victory, allowing just one hit in 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Michael Hanzlik (3.2 innings, one earned run) and Howell (2.1 scoreless innings, save) finished the game.
Merck (3-for-5, 2 RBI), Adam McFarland (2-for-5, RBI), Fulginiti (2-for-5, RBI) and Boyles (2-for-4, RBI) paced Gardner-Webb's 11-hit offensive effort.
Appalachian State also had 11 hits in the game. Arrowood (5-3) took the loss in relief, allowing three runs on four hits in 1.0 inning pitched.
Gardner-Webb will travel to High Point Friday for a key Big South Conference series, with first pitch set for 6 pm ET.
