April 11, 2003
MASTNY LEADS FURMAN PAST APPALACHIAN STATE 5-2
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Tom Mastny won his fifth consecutive start and pitched his fifth complete game of the season to lift Furman to a 5-2 win over Appalachian State in Southern Conference baseball action Friday night at Furman Stadium.
A senior righthander from Zionsville, Indiana, Mastny (7-2) struck out nine batters and surrendered only four hits, one walk, and one earned run in pacing Furman (16-14, 7-9 SoCon) to its fifth win in its last six games. With the complete game performance, Mastny lowered his league leading earned run average to 1.11. Opponents are batting only .182 against him this season.
Offensively Furman was paced by Craig Caudill, who tallied a career high four hits in a 4-for-5 performance that included a triple. Nick Wajda and A.J. Davidiuk added a pair of hits for the Paladins, who collected 10 hits on the evening.
Tim Johnson went 2-for-4 to lead Appalachian State (8-20, 3-10 SoCon).
Furman wasted little time in providing run support for Mastny, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom off Mountaineer starter Nick Peterson (2-7). With one out Craig Caudill singled to left field, stole second, and came home when Appalachian State centerfielder Ty Racette misplayed a deep fly by Derek Norman.
The Paladins tacked on three more runs in the second. After Nick Wajda walked with one out, A.J. Davidiuk singled to center. Two batters later Caudill singled to center to drive in Wajda, and Norman followed with an RBI single to right center to plate Davidiuk. A walk to Dominic Frankey loaded the bases, and Sam McLain followed with another walk to force in Caudill and extend Furman’s lead to 4-0.
Appalachian State touched Mastny for a run in the third. Hit by Mastny to lead off the inning, Derek Smith advanced to second on a groundout and, one out later, raced home on a Justin Thomas double to left center to make it 4-1.
It remained 4-1 until the top of the sixth. With two out, Graham Thompson walked and advanced to third on a single by Eric Pittman. Tim Johnson then followed with a line drive double to left field, scoring Thompson to make it 4-2. Mastny recovered by getting Eric Hunnicutt on a fly out to end the inning.
Furman made it 5-2 in the eighth when Wajda singled, stole second, and scored on a single to left by A.J. Davidiuk.
Mastny finished strong, surrendering only one hit in his final three innings of work and getting Derek Smith on a foul pop to first base to end the game.
Furman and Appalachian State play the second game in the three-game series on Saturday beginning at 6:00 p.m. Sunday’s contest is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.