BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University’s home football game versus Wofford, originally scheduled for November 1, has been moved to Friday, October 31 to accommodate a live national broadcast on ESPN2. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. at ASU’s Kidd Brewer Stadium.

There are numerous intriguing storylines that make the matchup appealing for ESPN2’s national audience. The contest pits the defending Southern Conference co-champions and is the first between the two teams since Appalachian had its 17-game winning streak snapped by Wofford, 42-31, last Sept. 22 in Spartanburg, S.C. ASU rebounded from the loss to Wofford to go 13-2 en route to its third-straight NCAA Division I national championship, while Wofford (9-4) earned the SoCon’s automatic postseason bid and advanced to the national quarterfinals.

The Mountaineers and Terriers are among the Carolinas’ and SoCon’s winningest programs in this decade. Appalachian has the best record of any Division I institution in North or South Carolina at 79-27 (.745) and the best SoCon record of any conference member (46-14 — .767) since the beginning of the 2000 season. Wofford ranks third overall in the Carolinas (62-32 — .659) and fourth in the SoCon (39-21 — .650) during the same stretch.

The nationally televised Friday night contest is Appalachian’s second in the past calendar year. Last Dec. 7, ASU defeated Richmond, 55-35, in the national semifinals before an ESPN2 national audience and a boisterous crowd of 24,140, the largest for a non-championship game in NCAA Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision — formerly Division I-AA) postseason history. Appalachian is 12-0 all-time when playing on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

To assist Appalachian and the local community in accommodating what is expected to be a large crowd, Watauga High School has moved its home game versus Morganton Freedom to Thursday evening.

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SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Appalachian State University baseball jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held on for a 6-4 triumph over USC Upstate on Tuesday evening at Harley Field.

Appalachian (16-17) scored twice in the second and third innings and once in the fourth and sixth stanzas to grab the 6-0 advantage. USC Upstate (17-17) got on the scoreboard with a run in the sixth and cut the deficit to 6-4 with another single tally in the seventh and two more in the eighth. USCU brought the winning run to the plate in the ninth, but ASU’s Adam Mills induced a game-ending line drive to second base to extinguish the threat and earn his third save of the season .

Making just his third-career start on the mound, Zach Quate was impressive once again for the Mountaineers. The right-handed junior limited the Spartans to just one run on four hits over six-plus innings of work to move to 3-0 on the season.

Jason Rook led the Mountaineers offensively with a 2-for-5 effort, which included a two-run single that opened the scoring in the second. David Rubinstein also registered two hits and Isaac Harrow, Brett Stewart, Wes Hobson and David Towarnicky all drove in runs.

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Appalachian State defensive end Quavian Lewis bursts out of his stance in front of Corbett Harris, the Mountaineer offensive tackle trying to block him, and is able to put some pressure on quarterback Armanti Edwards during an 11-on-11 drill toward the end of practice Wednesday.

Lewis, the transfer from Vanderbilt, then gets some instruction from defensive line coach Mark Speir before lining up again. Then Lewis lines up again and again for more reps at the right defensive end position.

“It’s going pretty good,” Lewis said of his spring workouts. “I’m a little rusty, but it’s coming back, though.”

It may be labor for some, but for Lewis, it’s a chance to get back on the football field in a long time. The last time Lewis played, it was at the end of the 2006 season when he was at Vanderbilt played Tennessee.

Since then, he transferred to Appalachian State, but had to sit out of the 2007 season because of NCAA rules. Now that he’s allowed to practice, Lewis is taking advantage of if by shooting to the top of the depth charts, at least during spring workouts.

He’ll battle Gary Tharrington, Tony Robertson and Tim Washington for playing time at defensive end this fall. Tharrington, Washington and defensive tackle Daniel Finnerty are participating in the conditioning part spring practice, but are being held out of contact drills because of a variety of injuries suffered during the 2007 season.

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HIGH POINT, N.C. — Appalachian State University baseball scored 11 runs over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings and withstood a furious High Point rally in the bottom of the ninth to collect 19-14 win on Wednesday afternoon at Willard Stadium.

The contest was knotted at 6-6 after five innings, but Appalachian (5-5) exploded for two runs in the sixth inning, six in the seventh and five in the eighth to take a 19-6 lead. The long ball was the key to the outburst, as shortstop Jason Altenhof belted a two-run home run in sixth inning and center fielder Rand Smith and right fielder Jason Rook added two-run blasts in the eighth.

High Point (3-7), however, scored eight times in the bottom of the ninth to cut the deficit to 19-14. HPU put the tying run on deck with only one out in the ninth before Zach Quate ended the four-hour, 10-minute affair with back-to-back strikeouts.

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BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University defensive line coach Mark Speir is in training to run the Music City Marathon on April 26 in Nashville, Tenn. Speir is running the marathon in memory of Dr. Lowell Furman, a longtime supporter of ASU football and co-founder of World Medical Mission.

Speir’s goal in running the marathon is to raise $26,200 for a hospital being rebuilt in Bangladesh by the Boone-based World Medical Mission, a division of Samaritan’s Purse. The hospital is to be named for Dr. Furman, who passed away during Appalachian’s run to the second of three-straight national championships in 2006.

In addition to honoring money in memory of Dr. Furman, Speir is also running the grueling 26.2-mile race in honor of Dr. Jim Foulkes, who devoted 38 years to medical missions in Africa. Dr. Foulkes, who leads a weekly devotion for ASU’s coaching staff, is an Ohio State graduate. The Mountaineers, of course, gained millions of fans in Buckeye Country in 2007 when it opened the season with a 34-32 triumph over OSU-archrival Michigan.

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