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Ryan Basner (3-5) was the winner in game one. He pitched 7.1 innings with six hits, no runs, three walks and five strikeouts. Seth Foster (2-1) picked up the win in game two. He relieved starter Dan Foley in the fourth and allowed just one hit and one unearned run with five strikeouts and no walks in three innings.
In game one, Western jumped to a 3-0 lead when Minero delivered a homer in the first.
Ryan McCurry singled in the second, moved to third on Ryan Schade's double and scored on Todd Roper's single. Goldston had an RBI with an infield hit for a 5-0 lead.
Alan Beck homered in the sixth, and Buchanan had an RBI single in the eighth.
The Mountaineers scored their three runs in the ninth on an RBI double by Wes Timmons and Robbie Huffstetler's two-run single.
Buchanan went four of four at the plate, and Goldston was four of five. Minero was two of four.
ASU was led by Huffstetler's three of four performance. Chris Downard and Adam Ennis were two of four.
Tyson Blocker was the losing pitcher. He was touched for 13 hits in six innings.
In game two, Appalachian took a 2-0 lead in the first when Timmons and Downard hit a home run.
The lead was short lived as Western sent 13 men to the plate and scored nine runs in the second, highlighted by Minero's second grand slam of the season. Brian Sigmon collected two hits in the inning and Schade, who scored early in the frame after being hit by a pitch, delivered a two-run single to chase ASU starter Rodney Lemonds.
Ben Wellborn's two-run single cut the gap to 9-4 in the fourth.
Western answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Sigmon doubled to drive in two runs, and Dan Woodley had an RBI double making it 12-4.
Goldston homered in the fifth and Ben Rhoney had a sacrifice fly to counter an ASU run in the top half for a 14-5 margin.
Beck belted a three-run homer in the sixth, and Rhoney had an RBI single extending the lead to 18-5.
Huffstetler's two-run home run completed the scoring in the ninth.
Goldston, Minero and Sigmon all went three of five. Beck, Buchanan Schade and Woodley provided two hits apiece.
Timmons and Mike Lee were two of five for the Mounties.
Downard two-run double in the top of the 10th lifted ASU to a 13-11 victory Sunday. Singles by Carey Hobbs and Huffstetler set up the winning hit.
Matt Wood pitched the final two innings for the win. The only hit he allowed was a two-run homer by Beck to tie the game in ninth.
Ryan Foster (0-2) was saddled with the loss. He gave up four hits and two runs in three innings.
The Cats used four two-out singles and an error to take a 3-0 lead in the first.
Appalachian answered with a pair of runs in the second, two more in the third and one in the fourth to go up 5-3. Ennis had a two-run home run in the second while Huffstetler's double and Downard's drove in runs in the third. Timmons had a run-scoring single in the fourth.
Western scored three runs to move in front 6-5 in the fourth. Schade had a two-run single and later scored on Roper's sacrifice fly.
Huffstetler doubled in the fifth and scored on Marko Little's single for a 6-6 tie.
ASU looked to have the game in hand, by scoring five runs in the sixth for an 11-6 advantage. A Luke Little leadoff walk followed by consecutive singles by Nick Baughn, Hobbs and Huffstetler put two runs on the board. Hobbs scored on a wild pitch before Downard and Lee hit back-to-back home runs.
Buchanan's three-run homer narrowed the deficit to 11-9 in the seventh before Beck's homer tied it in the ninth.
Timmons, Huffstetler, Downard and Little all had three hits for the Mounties. Baughn and Hobbs added two hits each.
Schade was three of five and Beck three of four to pace the WCU offense. Buchanan, Minero and Rhoney all had two hits.
Tennessee, ranked sixth nationally, scored nine runs over the final four innings to pull out a 15-13 victory over WCU on March 27 at Hennon Stadium. The Volunteers broke a 13-13 tie on ninth-inning doubles by Chris Burke, Jeff Christensen and Dan Wilson.
Will Curtiss earned the win with two scoreless innings and three strikeouts.
The Vols trailed 13-6 after five innings. Their comeback started in the sixth when Matt Sternberg doubled and scored on Stevie Daniel's sacrifice fly. Javi Herrera cut the deficit to 13-9 with a two-run homer in the seventh.
UT tied the game 13-13 after scoring four runs on four hits with two costly WCU errors in the eighth. A Daniel single and an error put two runners on with one out. Jared Burton (4-2), who made his first appearance out of the bullpen this season, was greeted by Wilson's RBI single. Another error allowed a run to score. Hal Bibee's two-run single knotted the score.
Western fell behind 2-0 in the first but got on the board in the second on Matt Price's single and Shade's RBI double.
WCU trailed 6-1 entering the bottom of the third. Roper singled, advanced on an error and scored on Minero's single. Minero got caught in a rundown when attempting to steal second but stayed in it long enough to allow Buchanan to score from third.
The Cats pulled within 6-5 with two runs in the fourth on a throwing error and an RBI single by Goldston.
Western took control with an eight-run fifth thanks to the long ball. Buchanan's grand slam was the big blow. Price hit a two-run homer, and Minero had a solo shot. Minero also had a double in the frame.
Adam Smith led the Volunteer attack with a four of five performance at the plate Burke and Wilson both had three hits while Daniel, Herrera and Christensen all had two hits.
Roper was four of five for the Cats. Minero and Schade had three hits apiece, and Price added two hits.
Western will travel to Citadel (9-3), the Southern Conference leader, for a weekend series. The teams will play at 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Tuesday's home game with Clemson was rained out and has not been reset. Non-conference games are slated for next Tuesday (6 p.m.) and Wednesday (4 p.m.) at Georgia State.
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