FINAL STATS

FOREST CITY, NC – David Towarnicky went 3-for-5 and scored on a double in the bottom of the 13th inning to lead Appalachian State (1-0) to a 4-3 win over Jacksonville State (0-1) in the season-opener for both teams on Friday night.

Andrew Webster (1-0) picked up the win in relief for App State, while Jason Zylstra (0-1) suffered the loss for the Gamecocks after giving up the winning run..

“It was a game of missed opportunities for us,” said JSU head coach Jim Case. “We had opportunities in the game to expand our lead and just were not able to do it and it came back to get us.”

Appalachian State took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning after Towarnicky scored on a Gamecock error, but Jax State took the lead in the third inning.

Kyle Bluestein led off with a walk and Bert Smith also walked before Daniel Adamson singled through the left side to score Bluestein and tie the game at 1-1. Todd Cunningham followed with a RBI single through the right side to score Smith and give the Gamecocks a 2-1 lead.

JSU starter Ben Tootle pitched four solid innings on the mound, not allowing a hit and recording four strikeouts after throwing 84 pitches.

The Gamecocks took a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning after Bluestein had a two-out double and Jake Sharrock followed with a RBI double to right center to score Bluestein and extend JSU's lead.

Steven Leach, Jake Welch and Cunningham each finished with a pair of hits to lead Jacksonville State, while Adamson Cunningham and Sharrock each had a RBI.

App State cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning after Chris Alessandria led off with a double to left field and came in to score after Towarnicky doubled to left field to score Alessandra.

The Mountaineers tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning Rand Smith had a two-out single through the left side and Jason Wallace followed with an infield single. Zack Briggs followed with a pinch-hit single to right field to score Smith and tie the game at 3-3 and force extra innings.

“It's a great example of why there are 27 outs in baseball,” added Case. “They were able to get three straight hits in the ninth inning and tie the game.”

The two teams will play the second game of the three-game series at 2 p.m. on Saturday, before the final game on Sunday at 12 noon.