BOONE, N.C. — App State resumes its Sun Belt Conference schedule Friday with the start of a home baseball series against ULM.
First pitch Friday is scheduled for 5 p.m. with Saturday's game at 2 p.m. and Sunday's finale at 11 a.m. All three games will be on ESPN+.
The Mountaineers (15-21, 6-6) were 6-3 overall in league play before last weekend's trip to Troy, and they were 5-0 in Sun Belt home games before taking a 12-6 lead into the ninth inning of an eventual loss to Georgia State.
Entering the weekend, App State has played 15 of its 36 games against top-100 RPI teams. Its nonleague opponents in 2021 had a combined record of 121-58 (.676 winning percentage) in 2020.
ULM (18-19, 5-10) has already played Sun Belt road series against Texas State and Georgia Southern. The Warhawks' 1-5 road record in league play includes a Friday win at Texas State and two one-run losses.
App State's 7-4 record in the series against ULM includes a 2-0 home weekend in 2019 (the series finale was canceled by inclement weather), a 2-1 series win on the road in 2018, a 2-1 series loss on the road in 2016 and a 2-1 series win at home in 2015 (the Mountaineers' first Sun Belt season).
In Sun Belt games this season, shortstop
Bailey Welch leads the league in hitting at .500 (18-for-36) and on-base percentage (.596, with eight walks and two HBPs). He's fifth with a slugging percentage of .639.
Eli Ellington has pitched in six of the first 12 Sun Belt games and posted a 2.38 ERA with a 1-0 record and two saves in those 11.1 innings. All three runs came in a 1.2-inning outing against Georgia State.
