Appalachian State University baseball continues a nine-game road stint on Tuesday when it makes the short trip to Johnson City, Tenn. to take on longtime local rival ETSU. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. (please note change from originally scheduled 7 p.m. game time) at ETSU's Thomas Stadium.

Appalachian State (7-2, 2-1 SoCon) opened the nine-game stretch away from home by winning 2-of-3 games in its first Southern Conference series of the season at Davidson this past weekend. Appalachian, which hit 10 home runs through the first six games of the season, won the series at Davidson despite not going deep at all during the three-game set. However, the Mountaineers did bang out 29 hits in the series, including a season-high-tying 15 during Sunday's 10-4 victory, and allowed just eight earned runs in three ballgames, good for a 2.73 staff ERA.

The Mountaineer offense continues to be led by sophomore first baseman Alex Leach, who extended his hitting streak to eight games by going 6-for-13 (.462) with a pair of doubles over the weekend at Davidson. The red-hot Leach is hitting .485 (16-for-33) with seven doubles, a triple, two home runs, 13 RBI, 10 runs scored, a .939 slugging percentage and six multi-hit games during his eight-game hitting streak.

Appalachian State will send junior left-hander Chad Farmer to the mound on Tuesday for his second start of the season. The southpaw struggled in his first outing of the season last Wednesday versus High Point but despite allowing nine baserunners in just three innings, he limited the damage to just four runs (two earned), which allowed the Mountaineers to battle back for an eventual 6-4 victory.

Farmer has had ETSU's number over the course of his career. In three previous appearances against the Bucs (all in relief), he has allowed just two hits while striking out seven over 6.2 scoreless innings.

ETSU will counter with freshman Josh Jacques, who is making the first start of his career against the Mountaineers. The left-hander has been roughed up in five relief appearances this season, with a 9.82 ERA and five walks over 7.1 innings.

As a team, ETSU is an impressive 8-3 on the young campaign. The Bucs won 2-of-3 games versus Marist this past weekend at Thomas Stadium but are coming off a 13-2 loss to the Red Foxes in Sunday's series finale.

Appalachian State and ETSU have met 128 times on the baseball diamond since 1955, making the Bucs the Mountaineers' second-most common opponent behind Western Carolina (144 meetings). Appalachian holds a comfortable 73-54-1 all-time advantage in the series but ETSU has won three-straight over the Mountaineers, including a 7-4 decision in the clubs' only meeting last season (May 2, 2012).