BOONE, N.C. – The Mountaineers close out the regular season with four home games this week in Boone, beginning with the second game of a home-and-home series with Wake Forest, Tuesday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING APP STATE: The Mountaineers (18-29, 9-18 Sun Belt) took two of three from UT Arlington on the road this weekend.
Eli Ellington and
Caleb Cross combined on a one-hitter Saturday, the Mountaineers first one-hitter since 2019. Friday night
Tyler Tuthill fired 5.1 scoreless innings and
Hayden Cross homered in a 3-1 win.
App State has won five series overall this season, including taking Sun Belt series from Little Rock, ULM, and UTA, all on the road.
Hayden Cross leads the Mountaineers offense this season, slashing .304/.396/.429 with 14 doubles and two homers on the year.
Andrew Greckel leads the Mountaineers with four home runs, including two against Georgia State the weekend prior, and is batting .300 in Sun Belt play.
Austin St. Laurent is also hitting .300 overall, with 17 extra-base hits on the campaign.
Cameron Kepley leads the Mountaineers out of the bullpen this season, striking out 34 batters in 31.2 innings of work this season, while
Caleb Cross has held opponents to a .206 mark at the plate in 16 relief appearances.
SCOUTING WAKE FOREST: The Demon Deacons (35-16-1, 12-14-1 ACC) lost two of three over the weekend against North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Wake Forest does have wins this season over several teams currently in the Top-25, including Florida State, Louisville, and Virginia. They began the season 11-0, before falling at Coastal Carolina March 8.
This season, Wake Forest has had one of the most potent offensive attacks in the nation, ranking second in Division 1 in batting average (.320), third in on-base percentage (.430), and ninth in slugging (.537), as well as being tied for sixth in the country with 96 home runs. Seven regular starters bat above .300 on the year, led by Tommy Hawke (.375). Five Deacon hitters have double digit home runs, led by 19 from Brendan Tinsman, which is tied for 13
th in the nation. Out of the bullpen the Deacs are led by Cam Minacci who boasts a 1.42 ERA and five saves in 25 outings this year.
ON THE BUMP:
TBA vs RHP
Grey LaSpaluto (1-1, 6.87)
SERIES HISTORY: The Mountaineers and Demon Deacons have faced off in 62 meetings all-time, with the Deacs leading 47-15. The two teams met April 19 in Winston-Salem with Wake Forest coming away with a 6-5 win
. Andrew Terrell tied the game at 5-5 in the sixth inning, but wake took the lead in the seventh on a bases loaded walk. The Mountaineers most recent ranked win came against Wake Forest, when App State took down the 24th ranked Deacs, 11-9, on February 26, 2020.
Andrew Greckel 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.
POSTSEASON CHASE: The Mountaineers are closing in on a Sun Belt Tournament berth. This season the top 10 teams in the conference standings advance to the postseason tournament in Montgomery, Ala., May 24-29. App State is one win (or one UTA or ULM loss) away from securing a spot in the ten-team field, currently sitting ninth in the standings. Seeds seven through ten will play a single elimination game on Tuesday, with the eight remaining teams advancing to the double-elimination portion of the tournament. Last season the Mountaineers won their first Sun Belt tournament game with a 1-0 shutout of Texas State.
ROAD WARRIORS: App State captured their third road series of the season last weekend, taking two of three games from UT Arlington. Earlier this season the Mountaineers also claimed road series from Little Rock and ULM. 11 of App State's 18 wins have come on the road this season, including wins in seven of their 15 road games in Sun Belt play.
ONE-HIT WONDER: Eli Ellington and
Caleb Cross combined to deal a one-hitter in the Mountaineers 3-1 victory over UT Arlington on Saturday. It was the Mountaineers first one-hitter since March 10, 2019 when
Tyler Tuthill,
Austin Primm,
Evan Mauldin,
Bobby Hampton and
Will Herman combined to strike out eight in a one-hitter against Furman in Greenville, S.C. App State won the ballgame 14-0 with the only hit coming on a two-out single in the first inning.
WALK THIS WAY: Third baseman
Andrew Terrell has been incredibly patient at the plate as of late, drawing 13 walks over his last 12 games played. The junior now has walked 32 times this season which is tied for sixth most among Sun Belt hitters. By comparison, Terrell has struck out just 27 times in 161 at-bats. His on-base percentage sits at .385 on the season, the third highest mark on the team.
CROSS COUNTRY: Catcher
Hayden Cross has tallied a team-high 14 doubles on the season, to go along with two home runs. Cross has really enjoyed an uptick in production this season, slashing .309/.396/.429 with 49 hits and 29 RBI through 44 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.
BEAT THE DRUM: Junior second baseman
Luke Drumheller has been heating up at the plate, and after homering Sunday, has now hit safely in nine of his last 11 games, going 15-for-47 (.319) over that stretch. After a slow start to the season Drumheller has raised his average from .238 to .259 over this span, which includes a four-hit performance in the finale against Louisiana on May 1.
THE BOOK OF ELI: Since being inserted into the starting rotation, redshirt junior
Eli Ellington has been outstanding, giving up just two runs over eight innings in two starts. Saturday against UT Arlington, Ellington gave up just one run on one hit in 4.1 innings, combining with
Caleb Cross to one-hit the Mavericks. 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 joining the starting rotation, 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 last Sunday against Georgia State. St. Laurent leads the team in slugging at .439 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. Over his last 13 games, St. Laurent has gone 19-for-55 (.345) raising his average from .280 to .300.
QUALITY CORN: Redshirt-senior
Jason Cornatzer has established himself in the Sunday spot in the rotation over the last month, most recently allowing just one earned run against UT Arlington in four innings of work. He picked up a win for the Mountaineers each of the previous two Sundays, and has allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of his ten starts this season.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK: The Mountaineers 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 (109) 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 41-51 in their last 92 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 a three-game series against Troy, Thursday through Saturday at Smith Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, with the finale slated for 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Mountaineers will also honor their nine seniors prior to Friday's contest. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The 2022 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
