BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball returns to action Tuesday, as they travel to ETSU for a mid-week matchup between two longtime Southern Conference foes. First pitch is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING APP STATE: The Mountaineers (10-1
6, 3-6) were swept by 20
th ranked Texas State over the weekend at Smith Stadium. Friday night,
Tyler Tuthill struck out six in a quality start on, while
Austin St. Laurent doubled, homered, and drove in three. Texas State, however, was able to score three in the ninth inning to break a 4-4 tie. Saturday
Phillip Cole homered for the Mountaineers, but
Xander Hamilton was forced to leave the ballgame after just one inning on the mound, forcing the bullpen to cover the final eight frames in a 6-2 loss. Sunday,
Trey Tujetsch struck out six while allowing just two runs, but the Bobcats scored three in the seventh and two in the eighth to pull away for a 7-2 win.
Hayden Cross led App State at the plate with a pair of doubles.
SCOUTING ETSU: The Buccaneers (17-8, 0-0) have yet to begin conference play this season. Over the weekend they traveled to Waco, where they were swept by Baylor in a three-game series. Saturday, ETSU put together a three-run eighth to get to within a run of the Bears, helped by a four-hit game from Tommy Barth. Sunday, Bryce Hodge hit two home runs for the Bucs as part of a four-hit day. ETSU has now hit 14 home runs in their last 16 games and have tallied double-digit hits in 10 of their last 12 contests. The ETSU pitching staff owns a 4.04 team ERA this season, and perhaps most impressively, has struck out 242 batters (9.7/game) compared to 94 walks (3.8/game).
SERIES HISTORY: The Mountaineers and Buccaneers have squared off 139 times dating back to 1955, with App State holding a 79-59-1 advantage in the all-time series. The Mountaineers have faced only Western Carolina more in program history. The two teams split a pair of mid-week contests last year, with App State winning, 5-4, in Johnson City, and ETSU winning, 10-5, in Boone. In the first meeting, App State rallied from three runs down to score one in the seventh, one in the eighth, and two in the ninth, capped by
Phillip Cole's go-ahead two-run single.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK: Sunday's win over Little Rock marked the 100
th win for
Kermit Smith since taking over the App State program ahead of the 2017 campaign. Smith ranks fourth on the all-time wins list at App State behind Jim Morris (611), Chris Pollard (244), and Frank Lovrich (125).
ALL SAINT'S DAY: In Friday's game against Texas State,
Austin St. Laurent led the Mountaineers offensively with a home run, a double, and three runs driven in. St. Laurent added a two-hit game, including another double on Saturday, and has now hit safely in five consecutive games dating back to March 27. Over that span St. Laurent has gone 14-for-29 (.483) with three doubles, a home run, and five RBIs.
RED HOT CROSS: App State catcher/designated hitter
Hayden Cross has gotten off to a great start to the season. He tallied a two-hit game on Sunday, to give him 11 multi-hit games on the season, compared to only seven games this year without a hit, in 24 games played. Cross leads Mountaineer qualifiers in OPS (.873), AVG (.326), hits (31), RBIs (20), and OBP (.420), while ranking second in SLG (.453).
QUALITY CORN: Since assuming the mid-week starter's role,
Jason Cornatzer has been effective. Against 13
th ranked North Carolina on March 22, Cornatzer tossed four innings, giving up just two runs, while striking out three. Last week against UNC Asheville, he doubled that strikeout number to six, allowing just one run in four innings of work against the Bulldogs.
SWISS ARMY KNIFE: Cameron Kepley has been a big cog in the Mountaineer's bullpen this season, sporting a team-best 2.65 ERA through nine appearances. He has struck out 17 batters in 17 innings of work, with opponents hitting just .190 against him. Across his last two outings, Kepley has combined to allow just one run in five innings, while striking out four. Kepley has gone multiple innings in seven of his nine outings this season.
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 35-39 in their last 74 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 travel to Mobile this weekend for a three-game series against South Alabama (16-10, 4-5). First pitch on Friday and Saturday is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, with the finale on Sunday slated for 2 p.m.
The 2022 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
