BOONE, N.C. – The Mountaineers travel to Arlington, Texas for their final road series of the season, as they take on UT Arlington in a three-game weekend set. First pitch Friday is set for 7:30 p.m. ET with Saturday's contest slated for 3 p.m. The series concludes Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. in the finale.
SCOUTING APP STATE: The Mountaineers (16-28, 7-17 Sun Belt) took one of three from Georgia State last weekend in Atlanta. App State claimed the finale, belting a season-high three home runs, as
Austin St. Laurent,
Andrew Greckel, and
Luke Drumheller all went yard. On the mound, the Mountaineers combined for 14 strikeouts.
Jason Cornatzer fanned five in five innings to earn the win, while
Austin Primm set a career-high with five strikeouts in just two innings in relief.
Cameron Kepley struck out four to earn the first save of his career.
App State has won four series overall this season, including taking Sun Belt series from Little Rock and ULM on the road.
Hayden Cross leads the Mountaineers offense this season, slashing .309/.394/.421 and is tied for seventh in the Sun Belt with 14 doubles on the year.
Greckel homered twice last weekend, and has now hit safely in eight straight games, batting .308 in conference play this season. Kepley leads the Mountaineers out of the bullpen this season, striking out 34 batters in 30.0 innings of work this season.
SCOUTING UT ARLINGTON: The Mavericks (14-34, 6-18 Sun Belt) have lost four straight games, including being swept by Louisiana, in Lafayette last weekend, in three one-run affairs. The Mavericks have won conference series against ULM and Troy this season, and in non-conference action posted a win against Nebraska back in March.
The Mavericks are led at the plate by Zach Henry, who is batting .311 and is also tied for the team-lead in home runs with four. He has also walked 24 times and been hit 12 times, reaching base at a .456 clip. Out of the bullpen the Mavericks are led by David Moffat, who has struck out 47 batters in 59 innings, posting an ERA of 3.36.
ON THE BUMP:
RHP Tanner King (2-4, 4.26) vs LHP
Tyler Tuthill (1-5, 6.43)
RHP Michael Wong (1-5, 4.66) vs LHP
Eli Ellington (1-2, 5.13)
RHP Cade Winquest (1-3, 5.96) vs RHP
Jason Cornatzer (2-1, 5.46)
SERIES HISTORY: The Mountaineers and Mavericks have met 15 times in program history, all since the Mountaineers joined the Sun Belt conference. UT Arlington leads the series 8-7, but they have not met since the 2019 campaign when App State swept a three-game series in Boone. In game one of that series,
Philip Cole hit a two-run home run, and
Jason Cornatzer earned the win with 3.2 innings in relief. Game two featured a complete-game shutout from
Tyler Tuthill who allowed just four hits, and struck out eight.
WALK THIS WAY: Third baseman
Andrew Terrell has been incredibly patient at the plate as of late, drawing 12 walks over his last nine games played. The junior now has walked 31 times this season which is tied for sixth most among Sun Belt hitters. By comparison, Terrell has struck out just 26 times in 148 at-bats. His on-base percentage sits at .385 on the season, the second highest mark on the team.
CROSS COUNTRY: Catcher
Hayden Cross has tallied 14 doubles on the season which is tied for seventh most in the Sun Belt this season. Cross has really enjoyed an uptick in production this season, slashing .309/.394/.421 with 47 hits and 28 RBI through 41 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.
GRECKEL ON A TEAR: Graduate student
Andrew Greckel enjoyed a monster weekend at Georgia State last series, hitting two home runs, and extending his hitting streak to eight straight games. Over that stretch Greckel has gone 11-for-29 (.379) dating back to April 24. He is now leading the team with a .308 average in conference play.
BEAT THE DRUM: Junior second baseman
Luke Drumheller has been heating up at the plate, and after homering Sunday, has now hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 12-for-34 (.353) over that stretch. After a slow start to the season Drumheller has raised his average from .238 to .261 over this span, which includes a four-hit performance in the finale against Louisiana on May 1.
THE BOOK OF ELI: Redshirt junior
Eli Ellington made the first start of his Mountaineer career on Saturday, working 3.2 innings of one-run ball, while striking out four against the Panthers. Ellington worked primarily as the Mountaineers closer last season, earning five saves, but this year has been asked to work largely in multi-inning spots. Prior to starting Sunday, Ellington twice worked 4.1 innings in relief, including earning a win at ULM April 22, when he posted a career-high seven strikeouts.
ALL SAINT'S DAY: Redshirt freshman
Austin St. Laurent hit his third home run of the season Sunday against Georgia State. St. Laurent leads the team in slugging at .449 and has hit 12 doubles and two triples this season, showcasing his ability to hit to all fields. He has played almost exclusively at first base this season after beginning his career as a shortstop.
QUALITY CORN: For the second straight Sunday, redshirt-senior
Jason Cornatzer earned the win, striking out five against Georgia State. The week prior, Cornatzer worked a career-high 6.1 innings and struck out four against Louisiana. The right-hander has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of his nine starts this season.
MAGIC NUMBER 9: App State scored 10 runs in their victory over Georgia State on Sunday and are now 11-0 this season when scoring nine or more runs in a ballgame. By contrast, the Mountaineers are 0-18 when scoring three runs or fewer this year,
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 (107) on the all-time wins list at App State behind
Jim Morris (611),
Chris Pollard (244), and
Frank Lovrich (125).
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 39-50 in their last 89 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 close out the regular season with four home games next week, beginning with a matchup on Tuesday against Wake Forest. It will be the second meeting between the schools this season, after App State fell by a run in Winston-Salem last month. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The 2022 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
