Women’s Basketball 85 ETSU 57

Appalachian continues its non-conference schedule for their first game of the season while school is on break as they travel to long time rival East Tennessee State. The Mountaineers (6-1) are looking for the sixth straight win since dropping their road opener at Virginia Tech by three points. Appalachian has won three straight games in the series, most recently a twenty-four point win last season in Boone.

East Tennessee State (2-3) owns wins over Morehead State and Memphis, while they have lost by double digits in all of their three losses. Most recently, the Bucs lost to Louisiana State by thirty four points, and to Chattanooga by thirty three points. The Bucs have only made fifteen three pointers in their five games, while giving up 5.8 three pointers to their opponents. The Bucs do a really good job on the offensive glass, averaging seventeen offensive caroms a game. The Bucs are sloppy though, giving up 22 turnovers a game, which holds them to 61.2 points per game.

Appalachian has been on an extended break, not playing since a December 3rd win over conference opponent Georgia Southern. Appalachian held the Eagles to 43 points, in what could be considered their best defensive performance of the season. Appalachian forced 24 turnovers while only allowing sixteen made field goals. Georgia Southern was 1/21 from behind the arc.

Anna Freeman is eight points away from scoring her 1,500th point. Freeman leads the team with 21 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Playing a strong second fiddle is senior guard Courtney Freeman who graduated over the weekend. Courtney is averaging 18.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, good enough for second on the team in both categories. Maryah Sydnor is scoring 10.6 points per game after a slow start to the season. Sydnor is also grabbing 5.9 rebounds a game, good enough for third on the team in both major categories. As a team, Appalachian is outscoring their opponents by almost twenty points per game.

Update: Raven Gary will not play tonight.

Postgame:

Appalachian shook off a sluggish first half on defense to run away with a 85-57 win on the road at East Tennesee State. Appalachian led by four points at the break after leading by as many as 13 points in the first hald before allowing the Bucs to climb back into the game before halftime.

The second half was tight for the first seven minutes, and saw ETSU take their first lead of the game with 12:59 to play in the second half. That is where the game changed drastically. The lead ETSU took was their last of the game, and the field goal that put them on top was also their last made basket of the game. Yes, ETSU basically went the last thirteen minutes of the game without a bucket. From that point, Appalachian went on a 36-7 run to end the game. Appalachian scored nine points in the first seven minutes of the second half, but averaged 2.7 points per minute in the final third of the game.

The top free throw shooting team in the country, Appalachian improved that number hitting 18 of their 19 attempts, with the only miss, ironically, coming from the team’s best free throw shooter in Anna Freeman. Maryah Sydnor led all scorers with 23 points. Courtney Freeman finished with a monster double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Katie Mallow chipped in with 16 points. Anna Freeman was plagued with foul trouble and only played twenty-five minutes, but still managed 13 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals. The Mountaineers move to 7-1 on the season and will play at West Virginia on Friday evening.

C-Note: Anna Freeman scored her 1,500th point of her career and moved into fourth place on the all time scoring list. She is on pace to eclipse 2,000 points sometime in the SoCon tournament.

 

#28 Appalachian State Baseball (32-10, 16-5 SoCon) @ East Tennessee State (22-27, 6-12 A-Sun)

Appalachian steps out of conference for the final time this season on the road when they face long time rival East Tennessee State. A game between the two schools was cancelled earlier this year due to inclement weather. Appalachian is coming off of its first road sweep of the season over Wofford. The Mountaineers vaulted back into the rankings this week due to the sweep and a midweek win over High Point. East Tennessee State looks to rebound from being demolished in the desert last weekend by then 11th ranked Arizona. The Bucs were outscored 51-17 by the Wildcats.

Probable Starters

ASU Fr. RHP Jamie Nunn (4-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. ETSU So. RHP Jake Long (2-6, 4.46 ERA)

Jamie Nunn had his worst start of his career, but did not get carded with the loss. Instead, it was the regular relievers who gave up Appalachian’s second “bad loss” of the season. After Hector Crespo’s third home run of the season to lead off the seventh inning, the Appalachian pitching staff fell onto some bad luck in the bottom of the inning. Ryne Frankoff retired one batter in the ETSU sixth inning, but came back and walked the first batter on four pitches in the sixth. Regular setup man Tyler Moore came in and through eight pitches, but four of them went for base hits. After the damage was done, Appalachian trailed 6-3 with only two at bats remaining. The Mountaineers traded runs with the Bucs in the 8th inning, but lost for the first time in eight games.

Despite the loss, there were several good performances turned out by Appalachian. Chad Farmer and Jordan Jessup maintained a one run deficit for four innings. They scattered three hits and recorded four strikeouts. First baseman Trey Holmes was 4-4 with an RBI, raising his average to .254 on the season. Preston Troutman (.277) was 3-4 with an RBI. Tyler Tewell (.391) was 2-4 and Brandon Burris was 2-5.

 

#30 Appalachian State Baseball (22-5, 7-2 SoCon) vs. East Tennessee State (14-12, 3-6 A-Sun)

Appalachian State and East Tennessee State will renew their rivalry for the 125th time on Tuesday evening at Smith Stadium. Appalachian leads the all time series 71-53, but lost both meetings to the Buccaneers last season. The East Tennessee State lineup does have some solid hitters. They currently boast three hitters batting at least .300 or better and a fourth who is batting .297. Clinton Freeman leads the Bucs with a .363 average with 37 hits, twelve of those for extra bases. Matthew Scruggs brings the power for the Bucs with 11 home runs and 21 RBI. Keuhl McEachern will be making his first career start for ETSU. McEachern has six apperances and only 6.2 innings thrown this year, but allows a team low .167 batting average to his opponents.

Appalachian is back in the national polls after a one week hiatus. The Mountaineers were voted in at #30 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll. Previously, Appalachian was ranked 29th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Appalachian has been led by the strong bats of Daniel Kassouf, Will Callaway and Tyler Tewell. Those three rank in the top six in the Southern Conference in batting average with Kassouf leading the trio batting .409, while Callaway is .406 and Tewell is batting .385. The trio has a combined 47 extra base hits.

Projected Starters

ASU Fr. LHP Jamie Nunn (3-0, 1.69) vs. ETSU Fr. RHP Kuehl McEachern (0-0, 2.70)

Game was rained out in the middle of the third inning. All statistics will be wiped from the record and a make up date may be scheduled.