BOONE, N.C. -- The fog rolled in, and so did Appalachian State's offense.
After a dense fog halted play in the top of the sixth inning of Thursday's series opener, the Mountaineers (16-36) rallied for nine runs after play resumed to take down Longwood (30-23) 9-2 Friday afternoon at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. The scoring started with a go-ahead two-run home run from Matt Vernon that sparked a five-run sixth inning and was one of two late-game bombs from the Mountaineers over Friday's four frames. The Lancers were set to play the second scheduled game of the day, the regularly scheduled 6 p.m. matchup, but rain has moved that game to a doubleheader set to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
In Friday's resumption of Thursday's opener, Vernon went 3-for-4 for Appalachian State and drove in three runs, Grayson Atwood homered and drove in four, and Chandler Seagle sent in a pair with a two-run double.
Appalachian State recorded nine of its 10 hits after the fog delay, which signaled the premature end to a dominant performance from Longwood ace
Travis Burnette and bullpen stalwart
Michael Catlin. Burnette fired three no-hit innings before Catlin came in and scattered one hit over two scoreless frames, giving the Lancers a 1-0 lead before play was suspended at 8:38 p.m., following a fog delay that began at 7:30 p.m.
Nearly 18 and a half hours later, Appalachian State's bats awoke, touching up Longwood's No. 2 starter
Steven Farkas for four runs on three hits in just one-third of an inning after he took over in the top of the sixth. From there, the Mountaineers tacked on five more runs against Longwood's bullpen to hand the Lancers their first series-opening loss since the season opener at East Carolina on Feb. 19.
The second game of the day for Longwood and Appalachian State was rained out, so the Lancers and Mountaineers will play two games Saturday to conclude the regular season. First pitch of game one is set for 1 p.m. at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
#GoWood
