Pitching plan works well
By Steve Behr
GREENVILLE, S.C. — As Chris Pollard said in the postgame press conference following Appalachian State’s 4-1 victory over The Citadel in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament, it was just the way the Mountaineers drew it up.
Pollard was talking about the way the Mountaineers shared the pitching responsibilities. Appalachian starter Aubrey Edens allowed just one error in 6 1/3 innings work, and then gave the ball to set-up man Chris Patterson.
Patterson got the final two outs of the seventh inning and the first two of the eighth inning before handing the ball the closer Zach Quate.
After Appalachian State’s offense provided three runs to break a 1-1 tie in the ninth inning, it was lights out for The Citadel. Quate needed just one pitch over the minimum, 10, to strike out three Bulldogs and seal the game.
It’s been a formula that has worked most of the season for the Mountaineers. The Appalachian State starting pitchers don’t necessarily have to turn in complete games. Just reach the sixth or seventh inning, get the game to either Patterson or Nick Daniels if a left-hander is needed, and then let Quate shut the door for good.
The plan worked Wednesdsay. Edens turned in a gutsy performance on a day when Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year, Wes Wrenn, had set down 16 straight Mountaineers during one stretch of the game, and limited them to one run in the first inning after Smith, Hobson, Harrow and David Towarnicky, Appalachian State’s first four batters, reached base.
“Aubrey’s probably the best competitor we have,” freshman catcher Jeremy Dowdy said. “I love being behind the plate because I know he’s going to give it everything he’s got, regardless of how his arm’s feeling or how he’s feeling.”
He survived a first-inning that saw the Bulldogs score a run, but did not allow any other Bulldogs to cross the plate until the seventh inning, when he gave the ball to Patterson.
“Today’s (strike) zone was tight,” Edens said. “Luckily I had command of all my pitches.”
Edens was also helped by catcher Jeremy Dowdy, who allowed Edens to throw curveballs that often went into the dirt by blocking them and keeping them from rolling back to the backstop. The game plan to pitch Citadel sluggers Richard Jones and Chris McGuiness was to keep the ball down in the strike zone and try to get them to chase bad pitches.
It also didn’t hurt to have Smith make a diving catch on a McGuiness line drive in the fourth inning that saved a run. Added to that was a diving stop of a ground ball by shortstop Nick DeRose, which he threw to first base for the final out of the inning.
“I saw it right away,” Smith said. “I was thinking that I had to cut it off because it was going to be a double in the gap. The closer I got to it, the more I felt like I could get to it.”
It was enough to keep those two and the rest of the Citadel offense in check. It would be necessary since Wrenn was also very effective, not allowing any runs after the first inning until he left the game in the ninth.
“Every time he pitches, we seem to wait until the last minute to get some runs,” Smith said. “He stepped up and like coach said, he’s one of our best competitors the team and that’s why we have him on the hill. We knew that he would go out and keep throwing strikes and get people out.
“Sorry we couldn’t get him the win, but we
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