BOONE, N.C. – The Mountaineers begin a five-game homestand with a midweek contest against the Davidson Wildcats, Tuesday at Smith Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
SCOUTING APP STATE: The Mountaineers (13-24, 5-13 Sun Belt) took two of three from ULM on the road this past weekend.
Trey Tujetsch headlined the series by throwing seven scoreless innings on Saturday and striking out eight to secure the series win. Friday,
Eli Ellington came out of the bullpen to work 4.1 hitless innings, striking out seven in relief. At the plate, App State tallied 36 hits over the three-game set, led by six hits from
Austin St. Laurent.
Hayden Cross and
Phillip Cole each tallied five hits and combined for five doubles.
App State has now won four series overall this season and two in conference play, with the other also coming on the road against Little Rock earlier in the season.
Alex Aguila leads the offense with a .317 average and has hit safely in seven of his last eight games. Cross is slashing .300/.391/.423 and now has 13 doubles on the season which is one shy of the league lead.
SCOUTING DAVIDSON: The Wildcats (31-7, 10-2 Atlantic 10) have won nine of their last ten games following a series win over Rhode Island this weekend, highlighted by a 23-run outburst on Saturday. The Wildcats have reached 30 wins for just the third time in program history, with this season marking the fastest to that plateau.
Michael Carico leads the wildcats at the late, slashing .426/.578/.860 with 13 home runs and 40 RBI in 37 games played. Ryan Wilson also boasts a .417 average with 16 stolen bases in 17 attempts, to go along with seven home runs. Flynn Bennett leads the Wildcats out of the bullpen with a 1.32 ERA and a .156 opponent's batting average over 16 appearances this year.
ON THE BUMP:
LHP Isaac Fix (0-0, 2.89) vs RHP
Grey LaSpaluto (1-1, 7.20)
SERIES HISTORY: The Mountaineers and Wildcats have met 103 times in a series that dates back to 1973. App State leads the all-time series 63-39-1. Tuesday marks the first meeting between the two teams, separated by less than 100 miles, since 2017. Davidson hosted that matchup and won, 12-6. The two teams were scheduled to meet March 8 at Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis, but it was postponed due to rain.
AGUILA ABOARD: Shortstop
Alex Aguila has been red hot at the plate, and has now hit safely in seven of his last eight games, including five multi-hit efforts. Aguila has gone 13-for-24, with 4 RBIs, 7 runs, and has raised average from .260 to .315. He is also batting .328 in conference play this season, with 21 hits in 18 games against Sun Belt competition.
WHAT A RELIEF: On Friday against ULM,
Eli Ellington entered the ballgame with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and the Mountaineers ahead, 2-1. Ellington picked up a strikeout on three pitches and went on to work 4.1 scoreless innings without giving up a hit, and earned the win. Ellington Also worked 4.1 innings the weekend prior against Coastal Carolina, giving up just one run while striking out three. Combined, Ellington has given up one run over his last 8.2 innings, lowering his ERA from 6.43 to 4.85 on the year. He has 34 strikeouts in 29.2 innings on the season.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Catcher
Hayden Cross tallied three doubles over the weekend to give him 13 on the season, which is just one back of the Sun Belt lead. Cross has really enjoyed an uptick in production this season, slashing .300/.391/.423 with 39 hits and 23 RBI through 35 games. Last season Cross played in 41 games and totaled 25 hits and just three doubles, driving in 10, and finishing with a slash line of .236/.364/.311.
TERRIFIC TUJETSCH: Sophomore right-hander
Trey Tujetsch earned the win on Saturday over ULM with a career-high seven shutout innings, giving up just five hits (all singles) and a walk, while striking out eight. On the season, Tujetsch holds a 3.66 ERA, the lowest mark among Mountaineer starting pitchers, and has struck out 46 in 51.2 innings of work, and leads the staff with four wins on the year. Tujetsch has taken a giant leap forward from his first season in Boone when he finished with a 9.86 ERA over 12 outings.
SWISS ARMY KNIFES: Cameron Kepley has been a big cog in the Mountaineer's bullpen this season, sporting a 3.12 ERA through 15 appearances (one start). He has struck out 26 batters in 26.0 innings of work, with opponents hitting just .217 against him. Kepley has gone multiple innings in 10 of his 15 outings this season, and has allowed one earned run or fewer in 13 of those outings.
Caleb Cross has been equally as dominant, also allowing one earned run or fewer in 12 of his 13 outings this season. He is coming off a career-best 4.2 innings of work on Sunday, allowing just one run against ULM. The Sunday prior against Coastal, he worked 3.2 innings and retired the first 11 batters he faced. Cross has fanned 10 batters in 23.2 innings, with opponents hitting just .203 against him on the season.
BEAT THE DRUM: Junior second baseman
Luke Drumheller highlighted the offense Tuesday, with a three-hit ballgame against Wake Forest, his ninth multi-hit game of the season. In the Mountaineers mid-week contest the week prior against High Point, he also posted a three-hit ballgame, including a grand slam in the fifth inning, the first of his career. 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 batted leadoff for the first time against the Demon Deacons on Tuesday and was twice hit by a pitch. Church was also plunked twice against High Point last Tuesday, and has now been hit with six pitches in just ten games played. In the High Point contest, Church also launched his first career home run in the eighth inning, capping a night in which he reached bas four times and scored four runs. The 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 (104) on the all-time wins list at App State behind
Jim Morris (611),
Chris Pollard (244), and
Frank Lovrich (125).
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 37-46 in their last 83 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 homestand this weekend when they Welcome Louisiana to Smith Stadium. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. with Saturday's contest scheduled for 3 p.m. The series finale is slated for Sunday with first pitch at 1 p.m.
The 2022 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
