BOONE, N.C. – Three runs were scored by Texas State (21-6, 6-1 Sun Belt) in the top of the ninth to claim a 7-4 series opening victory over Appalachian State (10-14, 3-4 Sun Belt) Friday night at Smith Stadium.
 
Picking up the win was Tristan Stivors (3-0) as he threw two scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Cameron Carter (1-2) took the loss after surrendering three runs on three walks and two hits in 2.1 innings.
 
Zeke Wood started on the mound and went 6.2 innings. He allowed four runs on six hits while striking out four. Triston Dixon recorded an out as he faced two batters to wrap up the seventh.
 
Both Ben McClain and Daylan Pena went 2-for-4 with two RBI and hit a home run. Peyton Lewis hit his first homer of the season and scored twice while August Ramirez recorded a pinch-hit RBI single.
 
The Mountaineers opened the scoring with a two-run home run off the bat of Austin St. Laurent in the first.
 
Lewis cut the deficit in half when he led off the third with his first home run of the season that just cleared the wall down the right field wall.
 
St. Laurent added to App State's total with an RBI double in the next half inning to increase the deficit back to two.
 
With one out in the fourth, Justin Thompson laced the first pitch he saw to left center for a single. The very next pitch to Pena was smashed to left field for a two-run homer to tie the game 3-3.
 
John Wuthrich started the sixth with a double to left. Two batters later, Pena hit a slow chopper that was fielded by the third baseman and threw the freshman out at first. Aggressive base running by Wuthrich saw him take third and a bad throw from the first baseman skipped past the Mountaineer third baseman to allow the senior outfielder to score to put TXST in front.
 
App State answered back in the bottom half of the inning with a run on a wild pitch following a leadoff triple to tie the game 4-4.
 
Starting off the ninth, Lewis drew a walk and moved up to second on a Cameron Gibbons sacrifice bunt. Ramirez hit a hard shot down the first baseline that the Mountaineer fielder was able to get his glove on to knock it down to prevent extra bases. Lewis kept running on the play and was able to score on the base knock to put the Bobcats back ahead.
 
Ben McClain padded the lead when he smashed a 1-2 offering over the right centerfield fence to increase the advantage to 7-4.
 
Game two of the series will began at 2 p.m. CT and stream on ESPN+.
 
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