Spring makes its ceremonial, if not official, arrival this weekend when Appalachian State University baseball makes its 2016 home debut versus Quinnipiac. The four-game series opens with a doubleheader on Saturday at L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory beginning at noon and concludes with a Sunday twinbill at Appalachian State's Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium in Boone. Start time for Sunday's doubleheader is 11 a.m.

TICKETS
Tickets for Saturday's doubleheader at L.P. Frans Stadium, home of the 2015 South Atlantic League champion Hickory Crawdads (Class A affiliate of the Texas Rangers), cost just $5 and will be available at the gate. Appalachian State baseball season tickets will be honored for the doubleheader in Hickory and App State students will be admitted free with valid student ID. Food and refreshments (Pepsi products and beer) will be available for purchase at the L.P. Frans Stadium concession stands.

Tickets for Sunday's home-opening twinbill at Smith Stadium cost just $10 for adults, $6 for high school students and $3 for youth (ages 3-12). Single-game tickets can be purchased online by clicking HERE and will also be available at the Smith Stadium gate.

Season tickets, which offer admission to all 26 home games this season (including Saturday's DH in Hickory), are also still available for just $85 for adults, $75 for App State faculty/staff and senior citizens (ages 60+), $55 for high school students and $45 for youth (ages 3-12). Season tickets can be online by clicking HERE.

APP STATE TV
Sunday's doubleheader will be streamed live on App State TV. Click HERE to become an App State TV premium subscriber.

There will be no live coverage of Saturday's twinbill in Hickory.

NOTING THIS WEEKEND'S SERIES
• Appalachian State opens the home portion of its schedule after a grueling four-game road trip in South Carolina.

• The Mountaineers opened the season with three losses at the ultra-competitive Caravelle Resort Tournament in Conway and Myrtle Beach, S.C. App State fell at No. 23 Coastal Carolina, 17-2, lost to No. 4 and defending national champion Virginia, 8-0, and closed the weekend with a 12-3 defeat at the hands of the tournament's lone unbeaten team, Old Dominion.

• Appalachian remained in the Palmetto State for a Tuesday matchup at No. 24 South Carolina. Despite limiting the Gamecocks to just five hits (all singles), the Mountaineers fell to 0-4 with a 5-0 loss.

• After the arduous opening week, Appalachian State is 0-4 for only the second time in the last 12 seasons. In 2014, Appalachian played seven of its first eight games against nationally ranked opponents and started the season at 0-9.

• Despite the early struggles, the talent of App State's young roster has been evident. In all, 12 of the 27 Mountaineers that saw action over the first four games of the season were freshmen.

• Of the four Mountaineers hitting .300 or better this season, three are true freshmen — outfielders Tanner Mann-Fix (.556) and Beau Myers (.357) and designated hitter Colin Schmid (.313).

• Two true freshmen have also turned in excellent starts on the mound for Appalachian. Seth Hardin limited No. 4 Virginia to one earned run over five innings last Saturday while Breydan Gorham struck out five and tsurrendered just two earned runs on two hits in four innings of work at No. 24 South Carolina.

• Unlike much of NCAA Division I baseball, Quinnipiac did not play last weekend and is making its 2016 debut this weekend in North Carolina.

• The Bobcats, whose campus is located in Hamden, Conn., matched a program record for wins when they went 29-27 last season. QU finished third in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with a 15-7 league record and advanced to the semifinals of the MAAC Tournament.

• Quinnipiac was picked to finish second in the MAAC in 2016 by the league's coaches while Baseball America tabbed the Bobcats as the conference favorite.

• QU's veteran roster boasts 17 upperclassmen and is led by junior right-handed pitchers Alex Vargas (a 38th-round pick by the Houston Astros in the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft) and Thomas Jankins (a first-team all-MAAC honoree in 2015). Vargas and Jankins are the No. 2 and No. 4 MLB prospects in the MAAC, according to Baseball America.

• Appalachian State and Quinnipiac are meeting for only the second time. The Mountaineers defeated the Bobcats, 11-4, on March 9, 2008 in Davidson, N.C. Current Bobcats' head coach John Delaney was a member of the QU squad that fell to the Mountaineers.