BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State (21-27) completes its 2019 home baseball schedule with a midweek game against UNC Asheville (14-33) on Tuesday.
First pitch at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium is scheduled for 5 p.m., and the game can be seen on AppVision. Tickets are only $2 on $2 Tuesdays.
The home finale is the last game in Boone for seven App State seniors:
Drew Beck,
Brandon Boone,
Kaleb Bowman,
CJ Brown,
Bobby Hampton,
Joel McDaniel and
Riley Smith.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2019 season.
RECAPPING THE SERIES
In a series dating back to 1985, App State has a 43-22 record against the Bulldogs thanks to an 8-2 road win April 10. The Mountaineers trailed 2-0 before reliever
Kaleb Bowman retired two straight batters with two runners in scoring position. App State then scored seven two-out runs in the top of the third inning.
Weather-related cancellations prevented both of the scheduled games from being played in 2018.
GOING UP ON A TUESDAY
The Mountaineers beat Western Carolina 6-3 in their last midweek game on April 30, and App State's 4-7 midweek record includes a 6-3 win at FAU, which is a league-leading 19-8 in Conference USA and 34-17 overall. In addition to the road win vs. UNC Asheville, there was also a 13-0 midweek win vs. N.C. Central.
App State's probable starter is
Will Sprinkle, who has made 12 series-opening weekend starts this year.
Sprinkle, who ranked No. 2 on the team in 2018 with a 2.96 ERA, allowed four earned runs or less in each of his first nine starts this year and pitched at least 6.0 innings in six of his first nine starts. Through nine starts, he had a 4.36 ERA, highlighted by five perfect innings vs. Georgia Southern on April 5 and a career-high-tying 7.0 innings vs. ULM on April 12, when he had five strikeouts and allowed just four hits.
Right-handed senior Danny Wilson (0-5, 8.39 ERA) is the probable starter for UNC Asheville.
BREAKING DOWN THE SUN BELT
App State has the ninth-best league record (12-14) in the 12-team Sun Belt, which has a 10-team tournament that begins next Tuesday in Conway, S.C.
The Mountaineers will conclude the 2019 regular season with a road series that starts Thursday and runs through Saturday at Coastal Carolina. App State will open that series a half-game behind No. 8 Louisiana (13-14), one game ahead of No. 10 ULM (11-15) and 1.5 games ahead of No. 11 Arkansas State (11-16).
App State owns head-to-head tiebreakers over both Louisiana schools, which will face each other this weekend, limiting the ability for both of them to climb.
KEEPING UP WITH KENDALL
With a combination of power and consistent productivity,
Kendall McGowan has a .409 average (18-for-44), six homers and 15 RBIs over the last 10 games. He is second on App State's team with 15 multi-hit games (all in his last 34 games).
McGowan is batting .311 for the year with seven homers and a league-leading four triples, and his .337 average in league play ranks 13th in the Sun Belt. Of the top six batting averages for Sun Belt outfielders in league play, McGowan ranks No. 3 in homers, No. 2 in steals and No. 4 in slugging in that group.
BEATING THE DRUM
Luke Drumheller has led the Sun Belt in hitting and ranked in the top five nationally among D1 freshmen for most of the season and is now at .347 while leading Sun Belt second basemen in RBIs (35), slugging (.472) and doubles (14).
ASSESSING THE BULLPEN
App State moved forward without 2018 closer
Luke Watts, who had a team-leading 2.29 ERA in 30 appearances, but the Mountaineers brought back standout right-handers
Kaleb Bowman and
Andrew Papp.
Bowman ranks No. 2 in the Sun Belt in ERA (3.25) among qualifying pitchers and No. 1 among full-time qualifying relievers. He has a 5-1 record and four saves while leading full-time Sun Belt relievers with 52.2 innings over 25 appearances (the most among qualifying pitchers in the ERA race, with 21 ranking second).
Bowman had both App State wins during the team's 2-1 weekend at Louisiana and had both saves in a 2-0 weekend vs. ULM. He also has a league win against Arkansas State as well as a Sun Belt save vs. league-leading Texas State.
Papp has a 3.05 ERA in 25 appearances with six saves, a 1-1 record and 42 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. Eliminating a rain-soaked eighth inning against ULM in which the two teams combined for 10 runs in difficult pitching conditions that led to a pair of lengthy delays, Papp has a 2.41 ERA this season.
TAKING A CLOSER PEEK AT LEEK
In his first year playing at App State following a transfer from Division II North Greenville,
Tyler Leek is hitting .308 with a team-leading 29 runs scored and four home runs (all in Sun Belt play) among his 10 extra-base hits in just 107 at-bats (tied for ninth on the team).
The 29 runs are a high number considering he has reached base via a hit, walk or hit by pitch 44 times.
