BOONE, N.C. –
Luke Drumheller crushed a fifth inning grand slam, highlighting a season-high 21 hits in the ballgame, as App State thumped High Point, 17-9, Tuesday at Smith Stadium.
App State (11-19, 3-9) fell behind 3-0 in the first inning, when the Panthers strung together three consecutive one-out hits.
The Mountaineer offense responded in a big way in the second inning. App State sent ten men to the plate in the frame, scoring six runs, highlighted by RBI singles from
Alex Aguila,
Andrew Terrell, and
Dylan Rogers.
Then leading 8-4 in the fifth inning, the first five Mountaineers reached base in the frame, with a bases loaded hit by pitch and walk pushing across a pair. Drumheller then smacked a 383-foot grand slam over the right field fence, for his second homer of the year, pushing the advantage to 14-4.
High Point (11-22, 6-6) hung tough late, scoring four runs in the seventh inning, including a pinch-hit two-run homer from Josh Deslauries to cut the Mountaineer advantage to 14-8. App State answered back immediately with two runs in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI single from
Andrew Greckel and an RBI double from
Dalton Williams.
The Mountaineers delivered one final blow in the bottom of the eighth inning when
Braxton Church connected on his first collegiate home run, a solo shot off the scoreboard in right, to make it 17-9.
Offensively, all nine Mountaineer starters tallied at least on hit, while eight players enjoyed multi-hit ballgames. On the mound,
Caleb Cross delivered a season-high three innings in relief, striking out a pair.
Cameron Kepley added a strikeout in a three-up, three-down, sixth, while
Jeriah Henry finished the game striking out two in a scoreless ninth.
After a day off Wednesday, the Mountaineers continue their homestand with a three-game series against Coastal Carolina, beginning Thursday at 6 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.
The 2022 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
