Mountaineers cool off HPU
From staff reports

HIGH POINT — In just the second start of his career, sophomore Taylor Miller allowed only one run in five innings of work to lead visiting Appalachian State’s baseball team to a 6-4 victory over High Point on Wednesday at Williard Stadium.

The triumph was the 12th in 13 games and 17th in the last 20 for Appalachian (23-17). It came against a red-hot High Point club that claimed three wins over top-15 opponents (No. 5 North Carolina and two vs. No. 14 Coastal Carolina) in the past week.

Miller overcame a shaky first inning before settling in for the win. High Point (17-20) loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the first on a hit batter, walk and single. Billy Alvino’s sacrifice fly to center field gave the Panthers an early 1-0 lead, but Miller recovered to strike out two of the inning’s final three batters and escaped with the frame with only a one-run deficit.

The right-hander went on to post zeros in each of the next four innings while the Mountaineer offense posted single runs in the second and third and three in the fourth to grab a 5-1 advantage. Wes Hobson capped the early outburst with a two-out, two-run single to left center field in the fourth.

That would be enough support for Miller and the Appalachian State relief combo of Nick Daniels, Josh Dowdy, Chris Patterson and Zach Quate. Appalachian’s five hurlers limited the Panthers, which came into the game averaging more than 10 runs per game over their last seven outings, to just four runs on 11 hits. Miller highlighted the effort by matching a career-high with six strikeouts in moving to 3-2 on the season.

High Point made things interesting with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, but Quate stranded runners on second and third to end the eighth. Appalachian State added an insurance run on Nick DeRose’s RBI infield single in the ninth to make it 6-4.

Quate went on to retire three of the four batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth for his 10th save of the year. The right-handed senior moved into a tie for third nationally with his 10th save and lowered his ERA to a miniscule 0.59.

Freshman Ryan Arrowood led the Mountaineers’ 13-hit effort with a career-best 3-for-4 performance.

Hobson and Rand Smith added two hits apiece. Smith, who had a school-record 27-game hitting streak snapped on Tuesday versus North Carolina A&T, has now hit safely in 38-of-40 ballgames this season.

Appalachian opens a six-game homestand this weekend with a three-game Southern Conference series versus Wofford. Game times are set for 7 p.m. Friday, 4:30 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday at ASU’s Smith Stadium, where the Mountaineers have won nine in a row.