BOONE, N.C. – The Mountaineers travel to Winston-Salem, Tuesday, for a matchup with Wake Forest at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. This is the first of a home-and-home series this season between the Mountaineers and Demon Deacons, with the matchup shifting to Boone on May 17.
SCOUTING APP STATE: The Mountaineers (11-22, 3-12 Sun Belt) are coming off a weekend series at home in which they were swept by Coastal Carolina.
Tyler Tuthill made the start on Friday night, and worked five innings, giving up just two earned runs, and striking out five, but did not factor in the decision.
Eli Ellington impressed in relief on Saturday, allowing just one run in a career-high 4.1 innings out of the bullpen. At the plate,
Alex Aguila led the way for App State going 7-for-10 in the series.
This season App State has won series against Campbell, UNC Wilmington, and Little Rock.
Hayden Cross leads the Mountaineers offense with a slash line of .292/.391/.412, with ten doubles, and 22 RBIs. On the mound
Cameron Kepley and
Caleb Cross both boast sub-3.00 ERAs in 12 outings each.
SCOUTING WAKE FOREST: The Demon Deacons (27-9, 10-8 ACC) took one of three from Clemson at home over the weekend. The lone win came in dramatic fashion as Michael Turconi launched a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10
th inning, for a 12-9 win. The loss to Clemson on Friday snapped a five-game winning streak, which included a sweep of Duke the weekend prior.
The Demon Deacons began the season 11-0, before falling at Coastal Carolina March 8. In addition to sweeping the Blue Devils, they have won series from Georgia Tech and Boston College in ACC play. The Demon Deacons are one of the top offenses in the nation, with six starters batting at least .300, and three having already hit at least 10 home runs this season. As a team the Deacs are sixth in the nation in batting at .318, and have hit 65 home runs, which is tied for eighth in Division I. They are also third in on-base and eighth in slugging. Camden Minacci and Crawford Wade each boast sub-2.00 ERAs out of the bullpen, as two of the most relied upon relievers for Wake Forest.
ON THE BUMP:
RHP Eric Adler (0-1, 5.79) vs RHP
Jason Cornatzer (1-1, 6.52)
SERIES HISTORY: The Mountaineers and Demon Deacons have faced off in 61 meetings all-time, with the Deacs leading 46-15. Last season the Demon Deacons won 15-7 in Winston-Salem on March 30, and 12-0 in Boone on April 13. The Mountaineers most recent ranked win came against Wake Forest, when App State took down the 24
th ranked Deacs, 11-9, on February 26, 2020.
Andrew Greckel's hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning, and
Jack Hartman earned the win striking out four over the final 1.2 innings.
AGUILA ABOARD: Shortstop
Alex Aguila enjoyed a great week at the plate, tallying multi-hit games in each contest. He went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored in the midweek contest against High Point, and a combined 7-for-10 across a weekend series with Coastal Carolina. Over that stretch, Aguila raised his average 55 points, from .260 to .315 and now leads the team. He is now batting .313 in conference play this season, with 20 hits in 18 games against Sun Belt competition.
SWISS ARMY KNIFES: Cameron Kepley has been a big cog in the Mountaineer's bullpen this season, sporting a team-best 2.70 ERA through 12 appearances (one start). He has struck out 23 batters in 22.0 innings of work, with opponents hitting just .198 against him. Across his last five outings, Kepley has combined to allow just two runs in ten innings, while striking out ten. Kepley has gone multiple innings in nine of his 12 outings this season, and has allowed one earned run or fewer in 11 of those outings.
Caleb Cross has been equally as dominant, also allowing one earned run or fewer in 11 of his 12 outings this season. He is coming off a career-best 3.2 innings of work on Sunday, in which he retired the first 11 batters he faced. Cross has fanned nine batters in 19 innings, with opponents hitting just .203 against him on the season.
BEAT THE DRUM: Junior second baseman
Luke Drumheller highlighted the offense Tuesday, posting a three-hit ballgame, including a grand slam in the fifth inning, the first of his career. The home run was the second for Drumheller this season, with the first coming on a game-tying shot in the eighth inning against UNC on March 22. Drumheller was named a pre-season All-Sun Belt selection, after being chosen as the First Team All-Conference second baseman a season ago.
HIGH COUNTRY CHURCH: Freshman catcher
Braxton Church launched his first career home run in the eighth inning Tuesday against High Point. It capped a great all-around game for Church, who was making his second start behind the plate. He reached base four times on the night, singling in the fourth, and was twice hit by a pitch, and he scored all four times aboard. This performance came in just the second start of his career for the Mountaineers.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK: The win over Little Rock on March 27, marked the 100
th win for
Kermit Smith since taking over the App State program ahead of the 2017 campaign. Smith ranks fourth (102) on the all-time wins list at App State behind
Jim Morris (611),
Chris Pollard (244), and
Frank Lovrich (125).
RED HOT CROSS: App State catcher/designated hitter
Hayden Cross has gotten off to a great start to the season. This season he has posted 11 multi-hit games on the season, compared to only ten games this year without a hit, in 31 games played. Cross leads Mountaineer qualifiers in OBP (.391), and tied for first in doubles (10), while ranking second in OPS (.803), SLG (.412), and RBIs (22).
APRIL SHOWERS: The month of April had not been kind to App State, which has gone 1-9 on the month, and has been out-scored 82-32 over that span.
LET'S PARTY LIKE IT'S 2012: App State Baseball honored the 10
th anniversary of the 2012 team with a brunch on March 19, ahead of game two of their series against Georgia Southern. The 2012 team claimed the Southern Conference regular-season title and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1986, beating Oklahoma and Virginia in the regional round. They came within one win of a Super Regional berth, finishing the season with a record of 41-18. Not only did they set the programs wins record that season, but they defeated four ranked opponents, including back-to-back wins over No. 7 LSU.
BUILDING BLOCKS: Under the direction of
Kermit Smith, App State went 11-10 in Sun Belt Conference regular season games last season to post the sixth-best record in the 12-team league. It was the program's first winning record and best Sun Belt finish since joining the league in 2015. The Mountaineers also earned their first-ever Sun Belt tourney win with a 1-0 victory against Texas State.
With the Sun Belt ranking as a top-10 league (out of 31 Division I conferences) in each of Smith's first five seasons, the Mountaineers are 35-45 in their last 80 Sun Belt regular season games after winning nine times in 45 Sun Belt regular season games during Smith's first year-and-a-half of rebuilding.
NEXT UP: The Mountaineers continue their road swing this weekend when they travel to Monroe, La. for a three-game set with the Warhawks. First pitch Friday is set for 7 p.m., with Saturday's contest slated for 3 p.m. The series wraps up Sunday with a 2 p.m. start time at Warhawk Field. The first two games of the series will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The 2022 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
