BOONE, N.C. — App State, which didn't compete last weekend, plays host to Georgia State this weekend in the Mountaineers' third Sun Belt Conference baseball series of 2021.
One of just three teams entering this weekend with a winning record in Sun Belt play, App State is 4-2 in the league with a home sweep of Arkansas State and a Sunday win in the series at Georgia Southern.
Friday's series opener against the Panthers is scheduled for 5 p.m., followed by a Saturday game at 2 p.m. and a Sunday finale at 1 p.m. Radio streams of all three games will be available from student-run WASU and can be heard on 90.5 FM in Boone, via WASU's "Listen Live" link by
clicking HERE or by downloading the station's mobile app, which is available on Google Play and the App Store.
There will not be video streams this weekend.
This is the second weekend in which the Mountaineers have been scheduled to play Sun Belt home games in both baseball and softball, and after baseball received the ESPN+ assignment with both programs at home three weeks ago, softball will appear on ESPN+ this weekend. Any stream from a Sun Belt member must appear on ESPN+ and cannot be available through AppVision.
Both the Mountaineers and Panthers have faced difficult schedules, considering App State (11-13 overall) has 11 games scheduled this year against teams ranked in D1Baseball.com's Preseason Top 25, and its nonleague opponents in 2021 had a combined record of 121-58 (.676 winning percentage) in 2020. Georgia State opened the season with 18 straight games against Power Five opponents, including 14 nationally ranked foes.
The Panthers (7-23 overall, 3-3 Sun Belt) went 2-2 against 14th-ranked West Virginia, earned a win at No. 3 Vanderbilt and beat No. 12 Georgia Tech in their first 10 games. Last weekend, they bounced back from a 23-1 loss to Georgia Southern to take the final two games of the series.
For App State, last weekend's series at Coastal Carolina was postponed hours before first pitch of Game 1, with the Chanticleers pausing all baseball activities, in accordance with the league's COVID-19 guidelines.
The Mountaineers are 3-3 in series openers this year and 3-3 in Game 2s, with
Tyler Tuthill and
Quinton Martinez serving as the starting pitchers, and bullpen standout
Noah Hall made the Sunday start in each of App State's first two Sun Belt weekends. He's 2-0 in those starts — the first two of his young career — with two runs allowed and 12 strikeouts in 11.0 innings.
Through six league games, App State's starting pitchers have thrown 36.1 innings. In the four wins, plus one close loss to Georgia Southern, the starting pitchers accounted for 31.1 of the 42.0 innings, with four pitchers taking care of the other 10.2 innings of relief work.
Heading into this weekend, reliever
Eli Ellington has 6.2 scoreless innings and one save in three appearances in Sun Belt play. He's allowed two hits, struck out eight batters and issued one walk against league opponents.
Georgia State leads the head-to-head series 13-7, with a 9-5 lead in Sun Belt games. Two years ago, the Panthers went 2-1 in Boone.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
In compliance with North Carolina Executive Order No. 195, there are limited seating options available for the remaining home baseball games this spring at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. The executive order currently permits up to 30-percent capacity for outdoor athletic venues.
At all App State venues, six feet of social distancing between seating pods is required, and face coverings are required for all guests and game day staff.
Options for fans include small-group seating areas at picnic tables and on grass hill pods on the first-base side of home plate, four-person fire pit areas and a heated outfield deck area for groups of six-to-eight people.
Pricing is on a per-game basis, and seating is based on availability. To purchase or obtain more information about available options, contact
Elizabeth Probst in the App State ticket office at
probstef@appstate.edu.
App State will be offering concessions that are available through cashless transactions only (Visa, Mastercard and Discover). Available items include hot dogs, candy, nachos, popcorn and Pepsi products.
OUTFIELD DECK WITH HEATERS
Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium features one heated outfield deck space available for groups of six-to-eight people.
Cost: $160
OUTFIELD FIRE PITS
Each fire pit space comes with four Black & Gold Adirondack chairs, and bike racks will separate the three available fire pits into socially distanced spaces.
Cost: $110 per fire pit (includes free popcorn vouchers for concessions)
SMALL GROUP AREAS
Pet-friendly picnic table seating area for up to six fans.
Cost: $100 (per table)
Grass hill pods for up to four fans with pets.
Cost: $30 per pod
