ASU gets strong pitching, but comes up short in SoCon Baseball Tournament
Appalachian State got the pitching it needed but came up just short for the second straight year in its attempt to reach the Southern Conference baseball final for the first time since 1986.
The sixth-seeded Mountaineers, who finished the season 33-27, jumped to a lead in all four of its tournament games at Charleston, S.C., but had to battle back from an opening 5-3 loss to No. 3 Samford on Wednesday.
From there, the story was pitching but just not quite enough offense.
Will Helms, a junior left-hander, picked up the win in relief on Thursday in a 6-4 victory over No. 2 UNC Greensboro to stay alive, and senior Taylor Miller registered his 12th save by retiring six of seven hitters over the final two innings.
Helms improved to 11-0 at ASU, and is the only active Division I pitcher with double-digit victories and no losses in his career.
On Friday, junior Seth Grant turned in the pitching gem of the tournament with a complete-game shutout as the Mountaineers advanced to the semifinal round for the second straight season with a 5-0 victory over No. 7 Furman.
Grant, who entered the game 4-9, registered his first career shutout and just the second shutout for ASU in its 68 games in the tournament.
The Mountaineers, needing two victories over Samford to get to the final and a try for its first title since 1984, got solid pitching again but lost 2-1 this morning.
Ryne Frankoff, a sophomore left-hander and part-time starter, went five innings and was backed by shutout relief performances by junior David Port, Helms and Miller.
Samford will face today’s Georgia Southern-College of Charleston survivor in Sunday’s championship game.