It has been a down-and-up season for Appalachian State's baseball team.
Coach Chris Pollard would have preferred better results earlier, but he said he likes what he's seeing heading into the Southern Conference tournament. The Mountaineers, struggling in early games for the fourth season in a row, have battled back for a fifth straight season of 30-plus victories.
They're scheduled to start tournament play at 1 p.m. today against Samford at Riley Park in Charleston, S.C.
"The thing we've been really proud about this club is that we've gotten better as the season has gone on," said Pollard, whose team went 31-25 in the regular season (15-15 SoCon). "At one point, midway through March, this team was 8-10 and 0-7 in the league. We didn't play well in March, we were really struggling to score runs, but we hung in there. We had a very good April and, really, a pretty good May in the toughest stretch of our season."
The Mountaineers, 14-7 in league play since the start of April, would like to cap the momentum with their first SoCon tournament title since 1984.
"All season long we've hung our hat on the fact we're a very solid defensive club, one of the best defensive teams in the league," Pollard said. "Offensively, we've tried to be opportunistic. We don't hit for a lot of power. We are able to steal some bases and make some things happen with athleticism … and we've tried to make the runs we get try to stand up for our pitching staff by playing good defense."
ASU, seeded No. 6, has high hopes for a strong start in the tournament with ace Ryan Arrowood scheduled to pitch today against No. 3 Samford (34-22, 18-12).
Arrowood, a junior from Rutherfordton, gave up just four hits in a complete-game 4-0 victory over Samford on April 15.
"He's been everything you want in a No. 1 starter," Pollard said. "He's gotten us deep into ballgames in every one of his starts. He doesn't walk guys.
"He threw his best game of the year against Samford, so I know he's confident how he matches up against those guys, and I know our team has a lot of confidence when he takes the mound."
Arrowood is 8-2 with a 2.87 ERA, third in the SoCon with 77 strikeouts.
"He had eight wins last year, but the difference now is his ability to locate his breaking balls, to pitch more with his slider and curveball and be a more complete pitcher," Pollard said. "He's grown in his ability to throw both of those breaking balls in any count. But Samford has a very good club, and we'll see a strong arm on their side, too."
Elon (36-19, 23-7) is the No. 1 seed and will face No. 8 Western Carolina at 5 p.m. today.
Surprising UNC Greensboro (34-18, 22-8) — picked in preseason polls to finish no higher than ninth — is the No. 2 seed and will play No. 7 Furman at 9 a.m. in today's opening game. No. 4 Georgia Southern will play No. 5 College of Charleston at 9 p.m. in the final first-round game.
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