Erik Lunde was named App State's hitting coach in August 2018, and the Mountaineers boasted three .300 hitters in his 2019 debut and two .300 hitters in 2020.
In a 2020 season shorted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, App State scored seven or more runs in eight contests. The Mountaineers plated 11 runs in an 11-9 victory at No. 24 Wake Forest, which was App State's first win over a ranked Power Five opponent since a victory over No. 16 Maryland in 2015.
Sophomore Luke Drumheller ranked among the Sun Belt's best in triples (T-first), RBIs (T-fourth), doubles (T-fourth), total bases (T-sixth) and hits (T-eighth). Junior Andrew Greckel burst onto the scene in his first season as a Mountaineers, ranking among the Sun Belt's best in slugging percentage (fourth), home runs (T-fifth), total bases (T-sixth), walks (T-seventh), on-base percentage (eighth), doubles (T-eighth) and batting average (14th).
The 2020 season was Lunde's fourth at App State, as he was a volunteer assistant during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He was hired as a volunteer assistant on Aug. 19, 2016.
In 2019, App State posted double-digit runs in five wins, as it posted a 24-3 home win against Gardner-Webb and set a program record for runs in a Sun Belt game during an 18-6 win at Coastal Carolina. Appalachian's season averages and runs scored were the program's best marks since 2014.
The Mountaineers hit 93 doubles in 2018 to post their highest total since 2013, and the team's top three hitters by average were freshmen. A strong stretch to finish the season included 13 homers in a span of 12 games.
Lunde joined Appalachian after spending the previous two years playing Minor League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, as he was picked in the 18th round of the 2014 draft.
Appearing in 117 games in the minors, Lunde had 94 hits, 47 RBIs, three stolen bases and a batting average of .247. In his last game, he had two hits, three runs and walked twice for the Bradenton Marauders, a Class A Advanced club.
Prior to playing professional baseball, Lunde played for four years at Lander University under current App State head coach Kermit Smith. In his time at Lander, he was named first-team all-conference, all-region and an All-American. Lunde was a part of Lander's record-setting campaign in 2014, when the Bearcats finished 52-8 overall and ended the season with a No. 4 ranking in the Collegiate Baseball poll. That year, Lander also led Division II in home runs and runs scored. The Bearcats won the Southeast Regional and advanced to their first College World Series.
Lunde finished college batting .302 with 247 hits (47 extra-base hits), 207 runs, 20 home runs, 115 RBIs. He graduated in 2014 from Lander with a bachelor's degree in mass communications.
Lunde grew up in Pompano Beach, Fla., where he attended Cardinal Gibbons High School. He resides in the High Country with his wife, Mackenzie.
