An afternoon pitcher’s duel in Boone, N.C. ended with Georgia Southern University only hitting safely two times and losing to Appalachian State University by a score of 2-0.

This is the first Southern Conference series loss that GSU has suffered all season. The team dropped out of sole possession of first place and now holds on to a mere ½ game lead in the conference.

Junior pitcher and Marietta, Ga. native Sam Agnew-Wieland pitched a complete game for the Mountaineers (17-9, 8-5 SoCon) and shut out the Eagles (19-11, 9-5 SoCon). This is only the second time all season that GSU has failed to score a run. Agnew-Wieland struck out nine batters, let up two hits and only walked two all day long en route to his fifth win this season.

Freshman pitcher Jason Richman suffered his second loss this season but has nothing to hang his head over. The lefty struck out six, only allowed five hits, and one earned run in his 6.2 innings of work. ASU struck for one run in the bottom of the first inning and would not give up that lead for the rest of the game.

The two hits for the Eagles came off the bats of sophomore catcher Chase Griffin and junior outfielder Robbie Dodds.

GSU will try to avoid the series sweep tomorrow; first pitch is set for 1:30 p.m.