After taking a 12-4 lead the Bucs gave up 11 unanswered runs to fall to Appalachian State by the final of 15-12 Tuesday night at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium in Boone, N.C.
With the loss, the Bucs losing streak goes to five games as they drop to 14-19 on the year and 6-12 in conference play, while the Mountaineers go to 18-16 overall.
ASU reliever Nick Daniels picked up his first win of the season by throwing a scoreless seventh inning. Senior Ben Allen was tabbed with his second loss of the year giving up four runs (one earned) on two hits in 0.1 innings of work.
ETSU was led offensively by Allen and left fielder Troy Mendez. Allen was 2-for-4 with a double, home run, drove in five and scored two runs, while Mendez was a perfect 3-for-3 with two doubles, an RBI and four scoring trips.
The Bucs jumped out in front in the top of the first as Mendez doubled off the wall in right center to score right fielder Jacob Fabry to take a 1-0 lead. ETSU added four more runs in the inning on a sac fly to deep center by first baseman Paul Hoilman, an RBI double by Allen and a two-run home run by the designated hitter Danny Petro to make the score 5-0.
In the top of the second, catcher Derek Trent doubled off of the wall down the right field line to score Mendez to increase the ETSU lead to 6-0. In the next at bat, Allen drove in his second run of the game to make the score 7-0 Bucs as Hoilman came in to score on a ball hit to short.
The Mountaineers got on the board in the bottom of the second as Zack Briggs drove in a run on a grounder to Hoilman to cut the ETSU lead to 7-1. Later in the inning, ASU got another run on a sac fly by Jason Wallace to center to bring the score to 7-2.
Allen continued his hot hitting in the top of the fourth as he drove his third home run of the season over the fence in left center for a three-run home run to extend the Buccaneer lead to 10-2.
Jerod Faggart cut the lead to 10-4 in the bottom of the fourth as he hit a two-run home run over the fence down the right field line.
ETSU got a pair of runs back in the top of the fifth on two-run double by Hoilman to give the Bucs a 12-4 lead.
Appalachian State narrowed the gap in the bottom of the sixth scoring five runs on three hits and two walks to make the score 12-9.
In the bottom of the seventh, Faggart cut the ETSU lead to 12-10 on a sac fly to right. The Mountaineers scored another run in the inning on a ball hit by Wallace to first to bring the Buccaneer lead to one run, 12-11.
After it looked like the Bucs were going to get out of the eighth inning unscathed, an overturned out call at first sparked an Appalachian State rally as David Towarnicky singled through the right side to tie the game at 12-all. The Mountaineers took the lead on a Chris Alessandria squeeze bunt, and went on to score two more runs in the inning to take a 15-12 lead.
Zack Quate came in and shut the door on the Bucs in the ninth to picking up his seventh save for ASU.
The Bucs’ next game will take them to Spartanburg, S.C., where they will face conference rival USC Upstate on Friday at 7 p.m.

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