BOONE, N.C. — With only one midweek game to open May, Appalachian State will play host to North Carolina A&T (24-20) on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
In a series dating back to 1983, App State has a 51-7 record against the Aggies. North Carolina A&T won 9-2 in Greensboro on April 11, and App State won 10-9 when they last met in Boone in 2016.
PUTTING BOONE ON THE MAP
Brandon Boone, a junior right-hander, is set to make his 10th start of the season and third start in Boone. He has a 3.83 ERA in a starting role, as he's allowed 18 earned runs through 42.1 innings.
Boone allowed five hits, recorded seven strikeouts and issued no walks in six scoreless innings as the Mountaineers shut out N.C. Central in mid-March. He enjoyed the longest outing of his brief career on April 3 at Radford, where he struck out six batters and allowed one run on four hits in seven innings.
He went 7-0 with a 2.48 ERA and 75 strikeouts (10.33 per game) at Brunswick Community College in 2017.
The probable starter for North Carolina A&T is senior left-hander Jonah Owenby, who is 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA in nine games (five starts).
Owenby started the first meeting with App State and allowed two runs on three hits in 3.1 innings. The Mountaineers' first two batters that day singled, but each of them were picked off by the lefty.
SHOWING WHAT BROWN CAN DO FOR YOU
During his current 10-game hitting streak, App State right fielder
CJ Brown is 11-for-31 (.355) with three home runs and nine RBIs.
Brown had three homers in a recent five-game span as a hitter. He hit a grand slam against N.C. Central, returned from injury to hit a home run that gave App State a 1-0 lead in a 4-1 win to open the ULM series and homered again last Wednesday in BB&T Ballpark, the Triple-A home of the Charlotte Knights.
HITTING SOME HIGH NOTES
* Senior closer
Luke Watts hasn't allowed an earned run in 20 of his 23 appearances this year. He has lowered his ERA to 2.51 with no earned runs allowed in 14.0 innings over his last 13 appearances.
* Watts' six saves in 2018 are tied for seventh place in App State's single-season history, and he leads the Sun Belt Conference with 19 games finished this season.
* App State has 11 homers in its last nine games after totaling 12 homers through 34 games.
Joel McDaniel hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning of a Saturday win and had a game-tying homer Sunday.
* Third baseman
Drew Beck went 5-for-12 last weekend in the Little Rock series, as he was 4-for-8 with five RBIs, two doubles and two runs scored in the final two games.
* First baseman
Conner Leonard has made 164 career starts and hit safely in 14 of the last 18 games.
