BOONE, N.C. — The Mountaineers continue their season-opening, 15-game road stretch with a midweek matchup at Wake Forest on Wednesday. First pitch at David F. Couch Ballpark is set for 5 p.m. in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Wednesday's game was originally scheduled for 4 p.m.
App State fans can follow the game at the attached live stats link. No audio or video stream will be available for Wednesday's contest.
Wake Forest (3-4) comes off an 0-3 weekend with three-straight losses at Long Beach State. Long Beach State swept the Demon Deacons in California to knock Wake Forest out of the top 25. The Deacons entered the weekend at No. 18 in D1Baseball's Top 25 rankings.
The Deacons opened their 2020 campaign with wins over Seton Hall, Milwaukee and Illinois. Grad transfer William Simoneit is off to a hot start this season, batting .444 with three doubles, one home run and five RBIs. Junior Chris Lanzilli paces the Deacons with three home runs, blasting homers in three of the team's first four games.
On the mound, junior right-hander Antonio Menendez will make his second start of the season. Menendez made a weekend start against Milwaukee on Feb. 15, delivering six innings and allowing just three hits and two earned runs. The Demon Deacons have averaged over 11 strikeouts per game, including two pitchers — Ryan Cusick and Jared Shuster — who have combined for 39 total punch outs.
Head coach Tom Walter enters his 11
th season at Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons finished 31-26 in 2019, posting a 14-16 record against ACC opponents. Wake Forest's season concluded in the ACC Tournament with a 6-5 defeat to N.C. State in 2019.
App State (1-5) dropped three games at Kentucky this past weekend, capping off the weekend with its longest game since 2000. The 15-inning marathon came to the close with a bases-loaded walk at Kentucky Proud Park. Second baseman
Luke Drumheller went 3-for-7 at the plate and was one of five Mountaineers to register two or more hits during Sunday's game.
Freshman
Peyton Idol made two starts over the weekend, including his first start in the leadoff spot on Sunday. Catchers
Jack Lipson and
Hayden Cross hold the top two batting averages, posting a .357 and .300 average, respectively.
Sophomore
Cole Hooper will make his second midweek start for the Mountaineers. Hooper pitched six innings and allowed just one earned run in a suspended contest at North Carolina A&T on Feb. 18.
Appalachian's most previous win over Wake Forest came in 2015. The Mountaineers defeated the Demon Deacons 10-1 in Winston-Salem behind two homers from former Mountaineer and current San Francisco Giant, Jaylin Davis. App State holds a 14-44 record against Wake Forest since 1970.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2020 season.
