Diamond Hawks blank Mountaineers, 2-0, in series opener

WILMINGTON, N.C. (UNCWSports.com) – Alex Royalty and two UNCW relievers combined on a two-hit shutout as the Seahawks blanked visiting Appalachian State, 2-0, on Friday at Brooks Field.

The Seahawks improved to 4-1 while the Mountaineers dropped to 1-3.

Royalty (1-0) tossed five hitless innings and struck out five before giving way to Austin Easter in the sixth and Clark Cota came on in the ninth. Easter struck out a career-high tying six in three innings of work and Cota chalked up his third save of the season.

Mason Berne led the UNCW lineup with two hits while ASU’s Joel McDaniel did the same for the Mountaineers.

Andrew Vaccacio (0-2) took the loss despite a solid start. The lefthander allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits and struck out seven in six innings of work.

Up next: The series continues on Saturday with first-pitch slated for 2 p.m.

How it happened: UNCW plated an unearned run in the third inning and added a RBI single off the bat of Noah Bridges in the fourth to build a 2-0 lead.

Inside the box score: Both teams combined for 25 strikeouts on the afternoon … ASU went 0-9 with two outs … Each team landed its leadoff hitter on base safely once.

Notes: Ryan Jeffers extended his consecutive games on base streak to 28 games with a first inning walk … Mason Berne pushed his hitting streak to five games with his two-hit outing … Cota has equaled his save total from a year ago in his first three outings this season … The UNCW bullpen lowered its ERA to 1.16 and opponents own a .138 batting average against it.