BOONE, N.C. — With weekend visits from five Sun Belt Conference opponents, along with midweek home games against ACC programs Wake Forest and North Carolina, App State baseball coach
Kermit Smith on Monday announced the Mountaineers' schedule for the 2020 season.
The 56-game regular season schedule includes 23 home dates from March 10 until the regular season closes with a series against Coastal Carolina from May 14-16 in Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium, which has a new AstroTurf Diamond Series playing surface that was recently installed.
The Coastal Carolina series follows a home game against reigning Super Regional qualifier UNC on Tuesday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m. The Tar Heels will be playing App State in Boone for the first time — they met in Hickory in 1995 — and Wake Forest's trip to Boone on Wednesday, April 15, will mark the Demon Deacons' first visit to Smith Stadium since 2017.
The five Sun Belt opponents on App State's home schedule are Louisiana, Georgia Southern, Troy, Arkansas State and Coastal Carolina. The Arkansas State series from May 1-3 falls on the same weekend that country music star Luke Combs will hold a concert in Kidd Brewer Stadium, and the Saturday home game is tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m.
App State's schedule also includes games against Power Five conference teams South Carolina (Tuesday, March 31, at Charlotte's BB&T Ballpark) and Kentucky (in Lexington from Feb. 21-23).
The Mountaineers return 10 position players who made double-digit starts in 2019, bring back six pitchers who threw at least 20 innings last season and welcome an 11-man signing class after setting a program record for Sun Belt victories and qualifying for the conference tournament.
With the South Carolina matchup in Charlotte being included, the 24-game season ticket package is available at a cost of just $90 for adults, $80 for App State staff/faculty (limit of two) or senior citizens (limit of two) and $50 for youth (ages 3-12). Additionally, there will be a Family Four Pack plan that includes two adult season tickets and two youth season tickets for $235 ($25 off the regular price for all four).
Season tickets can be purchased by
clicking HERE for the App State Ticket Central site, by calling the Appalachian State athletics ticket office at
(828) 262-2079 or by going to the ticket office, located at the Holmes Center, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
"This team has more depth and athleticism than any team that we have had here to this point in our tenure," Smith said. "We return a good amount of experience offensively and have a chance to couple that with skilled defensive players. To this point in the fall, this is our best starting point on the mound. It will be fun to watch them compete for critical roles throughout the rest of the fall and early spring."
The Mountaineers begin a season-opening series at Gardner-Webb on Feb. 14 and have road games against North Carolina A&T, Kentucky (weekend series), Wake Forest, UNCG (weekend series), Western Carolina and Charleston Southern (weekend series) before playing their first two home games against Siena from March 10-11. That starts a 41-game stretch with 23 home appearances.
The other home opponents on App State's schedule are North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, East Tennessee State and UNC Asheville. In all, App State will play 33 games within two hours of Boone.
Texas State, Little Rock, South Alabama, ULM and Georgia State are the road opponents on App State's conference schedule, meaning App State won't face UTA in 2020, and the Sun Belt Championships will be held from 19-24 in Montgomery, Ala.
