Appalachian State University baseball looks to get back on track on Tuesday when it opens a nine-game homestand versus local rival East Tennessee State. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at ASU's Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

Tuesday's game marks the return of Mountaineer baseball on the Appalachian ISP Sports Network, as the ASU-ETSU tilt is the first of 19 games throughout the rest of the regular season that can be heard on WATA 1450 AM in Boone and worldwide at GoASU.com. Tuesday's game also marks the season debut of ASU baseball on GoASU TV. Sixteen of Appalachian's final 19 home games are slated to be available via live video stream for GoASU TV subscribers (for more information, click here).

Appalachian (14-6-1) will put its perfect 12-0 non-conference record on the line when it battles ETSU (16-5) for the 124th time since 1955 on Tuesday. ASU owns a 71-51-1 advantage in the all-time baseball series between the two schools, which are separated by just 55 miles.

After winning 14 of their first 16 games of the season, the Mountaineers are winless in their last five outings (0-4-1). Missed opportunities plagued the Apps this past weekend at Southern Conference frontrunner The Citadel, as ASU stranded 30 baserunners in a three-game sweep at the hands of the first-place and now nationally ranked Bulldogs (18-6 overall, 9-0 SoCon and No. 25 in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll).

The Bucs are also off to a fast start to the 2010 campaign and have won six of their last seven ballgames coming into Tuesday's mid-week duel. They are led by junior first baseman Paul Hoilman, who ranks among the Atlantic Sun and national leaders with a .453 batting average, 11 home runs, 35 RBI and an astronomical .942 slugging percentage.

Sophomore Seth Grant (0-0, 4.15 ERA) draws the assignment to try to slow Hoilman and the rest of the ETSU offense, which is hitting .334 as a unit. Grant is making his third-consecutive mid-week start for Appalachian. In his last outing, two weeks ago versus Columbia, he surrendered just one earned on four hits while striking out four and walking none but did not figure in the decision when ASU squandered a late-inning lead before coming back for a 10-9 victory.

The nine-game homestand figures to be a special one for Appalachian second baseman Wes Hobson, who comes into the homestand needing just six hits to tie former teammate Isaac Harrow for the ASU career record of 260. Hobson could also surpass Harrow as the program's all-time leader in doubles (needs one to match Harrow's 65), total bases (needs 20 to match Harrow's 421) and at-bats (needs 24 to match Harrow's 750) before the Mountaineers hit the road again on April 13.

Following Tuesday's non-conference battle, the Mountaineers return to SoCon play when they host Furman this weekend at Smith Stadium. Game times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. on Easter Sunday.