BOONE, N.C. — App State will play North Carolina A&T on Tuesday for its first of two games against the Aggies this season. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Mountaineers opened their 15-game road stretch to start the 2020 season with a 1-2 record, closing out their season-opening series against Gardner-Webb with a lopsided 10-1 victory. App State's nine-run triumph also marked win No. 1,200 in program history.
App State holds a commanding 52-7 lead in the all-time series, splitting a pair of contests back in 2018. The in-state foes did not face each other this past season.
Sophomore
Cole Hooper will make his first start in an App State uniform on Tuesday. Hooper pitched 1.2 innings out of the bullpen on Friday, striking out three Runnin' Bulldogs. The left-hander will face off against N.C. A&T's Gianni Smith. Smith, a sophomore from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, will also be making his first-career start.
N.C. A&T finished its 2019 season with a 29-24 record, including a 16-8 mark in the MEAC. The Aggies are one of five teams named in Baseball America's
2020 Preseason Projected Field of 64. The other four teams are ACC opponents Wake Forest and North Carolina and Sun Belt foes South Alabama and Coastal Carolina.
The Aggies began their 2020 campaign with a 1-2 record, posting a dominant 12-2 win over George Mason and dropping two contests to Butler during their opening weekend. N.C. A&T scored all 12 of its runs in the first four innings against George Mason, and starting pitcher Ethan Chavis earned the victory after working five scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Shortstop Dustin Baber recorded four RBIs, knocking in three of his four runs on a bases-clearing double in the fourth inning.
Head coach Ben Hall begins his fifth season with the Aggies. The 2007 Clemson graduate has strung together three-straight winning seasons in Greensboro, making an NCAA Regionals appearance in 2018.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2020 season.
SETTING THE STAGE
App State continues its 15-game road stretch to start the 2020 season Tuesday with an in-state matchup at North Carolina A&T. The Aggies opened their 2020 season with a 12-2 win over George Mason and a pair of losses to Butler. Tuesday's contest will mark A&T's first home game of the season. App State holds a commanding 52-7 lead in the all-time series between the two schools.
The Mountaineers return to the field after starting their season 1-2 at Gardner-Webb. App State secured its 1,200th victory in program history on Sunday in a 10-1 rout in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Left-hander
Quinton Martinez delivered six innings and allowed just one run on the mound to earn his first victory in an App State uniform. Sophomore
Luke Drumheller went 3-for-5 with a double in the win.
Sophomore left-hander
Cole Hooper will get the start on Tuesday for App State. Hooper made his App State debut on Friday at Gardner-Webb, working 1.2 innings out of the bullpen with three strikeouts.
BUILDING OFF OF 2019
App State looks to build off a 2019 campaign where the Mountaineers finished with a program-best 13 Sun Belt victories, earning a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the first time. In 2019, App State led the Sun Belt in the percentage of at-bats (66%) and innings pitched (57%) by freshmen or sophomores.
The Mountaineers earned two players on the 2020 Preseason All-Sun Belt Team for the first time. Sophomore
Luke Drumheller and senior
Andrew Papp received the honors after standout performances in 2019.
RECAPPING THE LAST TWO MATCHUPS
App State last met North Carolina A&T during the 2018 season, splitting a pair of Wednesday matchups. The Mountaineers won the most previous meeting on May 2, 2018, in a 2-0 pitcher's duel. Former Mountaineer
Brandon Boone recorded the victory as App State gave up just three hits.
Papp recorded a scoreless inning in relief with a strikeout and no base runners allowed. The Aggies secured a season-series split earlier in the year, defeating the Mountaineers 9-2 on April 11, 2018.
GETTING OFF TO A HOT START
Many Mountaineers made their App State debuts in the season-opening series at Gardner-Webb. Starting pitchers
Shane Roberts and
Quinton Martinez both went six innings and allowed just one run apiece in their debuts. Relievers
Noah Hall, Cy Smith and
Matthew Helms also delivered strong outings, combining for 10 strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched. Junior transfers and former Chattahoochee Valley CC teammates
Jack Lipson and
Andrew Greckel put together stellar weekends at the plate, amassing six hits, two doubles, a home run and five runs scored between the two of them.
ASSESSING THE BULLPEN
App State moves forward without 2019 Sun Belt ERA champion
Kaleb Bowman, who finished the 2019 season with a 3.05 ERA in 62.0 innings pitched. The Mountaineers, however, bring back seniors
Papp and
Jack Hartman to anchor the App State bullpen.
Papp, a 2020 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Team honoree, led the Mountaineers with six saves and finished second on the team with a 3.38 ERA as a junior. The reliever has posted an ERA under 3.40 in both of his seasons at App State, striking out 45 batters and allowing just 14 walks in 42.2 innings pitched in 2019. Opposing batters hit just .226 against the right-hander, which also ranked second among App State pitchers in 2019.
Hartman finished the 2019 season with a 4.98 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched. The Peachtree City, Georgia native posted four strikeouts in a pair of two-inning outings in conference play against Georgia State and Troy this past season. The right-hander's 20 appearances ranked third on the team in 2019.
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
App State returns three hitters who batted over .300 in 2019.
Drumheller (.337),
Tyler Leek (.323)
and Kendall McGowan (.305) led the Mountaineers in the batter's box with each student-athlete scoring at least 28 runs.
Drumheller led the team in five categories – batting average (.337), RBIs (37), hits (67), doubles (15) and on-base percentage (.401).
McGowan and Leek tied for a team-high four triples, and
McGowan tied with senior
Luke Allison with a team-best 11 stolen bases.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
App State's fielding percentage dipped from .969 in 2018 to .963 in 2019. Even with the drop, the percentage ranks No. 10 in program history.
Smith's teams have finished inside the top 10 in fielding percentage in each of his three seasons. Outfielders
Alex Leshock and
McGowan both made just one error apiece this past season.
BRINGING THE HEAT
App State pitchers combined for 406 strikeouts in 2019, which ranked eighth in school history. The Mountaineers have posted totals of 411, 430 and 406 during Smith's tenure as App State's head coach, all of which rank inside the top 10 in school history. Four Mountaineers — 2019 senior
Brandon Boone,
Tuthill, Bowman, and
Papp each recorded 45 strikeouts or more this past season. Boone led the team with 67, while
Tuthill followed closely behind at 60.
HAVING THE CAROLINAS ON THEIR MIND
The Mountaineers play 23 total games against 11 different teams located in either North or South Carolina this season. App State's season-opening trip to Gardner-Webb marked the first three of seven games against teams in the Carolinas in the opening month. The Mountaineers will host Wake Forest on April 15 and North Carolina for the first time in program history on May 12.
PREVIEWING THE SUN BELT
In 2019, the conference slate was highlighted by a weekend sweep over UTA and wins against Texas State, Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern. The Sun Belt finished as the 10th-best league out of all 31 Division I conferences in 2019, according to warrennolan.com.
D1 Baseball recognized three Mountaineers in its 2020 Sun Belt Conference Preview, including freshman
Noah Hall.
Hall, a freshman from Charlotte, North Carolina, was named the No. 4 impact freshman in the conference. The right-handed pitcher finished his senior season with a 9-1 record, 103 strikeouts and a 1.66 ERA.
D1Baseball also named
McGowan as the Sun Belt's No. 19 prospect for the 2020 draft and
Tuthill as the league's No. 10 prospect for the 2021 draft.
GETTING THEIR FEET WET
Of the 35 players listed on App State's roster, 25 of them are entering either their first or second years with the program.
App State welcomes 10 newcomers this season, comprising six freshmen and four transfers. Two of the transfers,
Roberts and
Martinez, will begin the season in App State's weekend starting rotation.
Andrew Greckel, a transfer from Chattahoochee Valley Community College, will serve a key utility role for the Mountaineers.
PLAYING IN THE BIG LEAGUES
App State has five alums who played within a MLB organization this past season, highlighed by
Jaylin Davis' call up to the Major Leagues in September.
Davis, an outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, went 1-for-3 in his Major League debut on Sept. 4. The outfielder then slugged his first MLB home run in style, crushing a walk-off home run to lift the Giants to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Davis was named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year in 2013 for the Mountaineers.
Jeffrey Springs, a former relief pitcher for the Texas Rangers, was traded to the Boston Red Sox in January.
Springs pitched a combined 64.1 innings from 2018-19 at the Major League level. He finished with a 3.38 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 2018.
GRADING OUT WELL
In the fall semester, App State baseball finished with a 3.07 GPA, including 24 players surpassing a 3.0. The Mountaineers have posted a team GPA of better than 3.0 in three of the past five semesters. Sixteen players made the academic honor roll, which required student-athletes to maintain a 3.25 GPA or higher during the fall semester.
LOOKING BACK AT SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2019
• The Mountaineers set a Smith Stadium record with 24 runs scored in a 24-3 win over Gardner-Webb on March 2. App State tallied the first 11 runs of the game in the second game of the doubleheader.
• On March 5, App State defeated Florida Atlantic 6-3 on the road. The Owls finished the 2019 season 41-21 with NCAA Regionals appearance. FAU concluded the season ranked No. 37 in the NCAA RPI.
• In the first game of a doubleheader on March 10,
Drumheller tied a NCAA record with five doubles in a 14-0 victory at Furman. The Mountaineers followed their win over the Paladins with a 9-6 win over Michigan State in Greenville, South Carolina. The triumph over the Spartans was
Smith's first over a Power Five opponent.
• With a pair of 6-5 wins, App State secured its first road series victory at Louisiana from March 22-24. The Mountaineers notched a series win at home over the Ragin' Cajuns in their inaugural Sun Belt season in 2015.
• On April 27 and 28, App State completed a weekend sweep of first-place UTA at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. The Mountaineers scored at least six runs in all three wins.
• In App State's final weekend series, the Mountaineers exploded for 18 runs to knock off Coastal Carolina 18-6 on the road. The triumph clinched Appalachian's first-ever Sun Belt Conference Championship berth.
