BOONE, N.C. – App State baseball travels to Conway, S.C. this weekend, to square off with conference-leading Coastal Carolina, the 8
th ranked team in the nation, in a three-game weekend series. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. with the middle game slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday. The series concludes on Sunday, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. in the finale. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State (22-19, 11-9) is coming off a 14-6 victory over ETSU on Tuesday, in the final non-conference game of the season. Prior to that, the Mountaineers won back-to-back Sun Belt series at home, over Old Dominion and James Madison, to give them a program-best five Sun Belt series wins on the year. App State has also taken conference series from Marshall, Georgia State, and Louisiana.
Dylan Rogers went 3-for-3 with a home run on Tuesday, and has now reached base 25 times in the last eight games.
Andrew Terrell went 9-for-12 in the JMU series with a homer and two doubles and is now hitting .400 against conference opponents. On the season, App State is led at the plate by
Hayden Cross, who is batting .331 on the year, with 43 RBI in 41 games, and has reached base safely in 30 straight contests. On the mound, Friday night starter
Xander Hamilton leads the Sun Belt in strikeouts with 79, which also ranks 29
th nationally.
SCOUTING THE CHANTICLEERS
Coastal Carolina (28-15, 15-6) is coming off a midweek loss at home to Charlotte on Tuesday. Prior to that, the Chants most recently won their weekend series over Louisiana, taking the rubber game 3-2 in 11 innings on Sunday. Coastal Carolina has won all seven of their conference series this season. They have also posted ranked wins over Campbell, North Carolina, and Wake Forest in non-conference play. The Chanticleers lead the Sun Belt in batting, at .311 as a team, with six regulars boasting an OPS of at least 1.000. Derek Bender leads the way with 14 home runs and 64 RBIs in 42 games, batting .334 on the year. Darin Horn has appeared in a team-high 19 games this season (18 in relief) and has struck out a team-high 69 batters on the year. Teddy Sharkey is the Chanticleers closer, recording six saves to go along with a team-best 2.51 ERA.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Coastal Carolina have met 14 times in program history, dating back to 2002, with the majority of the meetings taking place since App State joined the Sun Belt in 2015. The Chanticleers hold a 12-2 advantage in the series, including a three-game sweep in Boone last season. The 2021 series was canceled, and without a conference season in 2020, the Mountaineers have not beaten the Chants since May 17, 2019 in Conway. App State also defeated a 16
th ranked Coastal squad in the 2018 regular season finale.
APP VS RANKED
The Mountaineers are searching for their first win over a ranked team since they defeated No. 24 Wake Forest, 11-9, on Feb. 26, 2020 in Winston-Salem. The win ignited a six-game winning streak, which was ultimately halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the win over the Demon Deacons, the Mountaineers have lost 11 straight matchups with ranked opponents, despite several games which were close in the late innings. Last season App State fell to No. 13 North Carolina, 4-2, despite tying the ballgame in the top of the eighth inning on a home run from
Luke Drumheller. This season App fell 16-15 to No. 24 Campbell, despite scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth and putting the tying and winning runs on base. A win over the Chanticleers would be the Mountaineers highest ranked win since knocking off NC State, 6-3, in the opening game of the 2013 season. Jaylin Davis homered on the first pitch of that ballgame, in his first collegiate at-bat, against now-Yankee Carlos Rodon.
DYLAN DIALED IN
Outfielder
Dylan Rogers has been locked in at the plate over the last couple of weeks. He is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak in which he is 13-for-27 (.481), while reaching base 25 times over his last eight games. Last Friday against JMU Rogers was hit by four pitches and also walked, officially going 0-0 in five plate appearances. Over this most recent stretch, Rogers has raised his average from .233 to.302, a 69-point increase.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Xander Hamilton has been incredibly impressive this season, winning the Sun Belt pitcher of the week award the first week of April, following a career-high 13-strikeout performance against Louisiana, the most by a Mountaineer in recorded history. Hamilton leads the Sun Belt with 79 strikeouts this season, which also ranks 29
th nationally. Hamilton is tied for fourth in the conference with seven wins this season, and the Mountaineers are 9-2 when he starts. Hamilton has struck out nine batters or more in five of his nine starts this season. Hamilton's 79 strikeouts are tied for 8
th most in a single season in App State history. The program record is 93 strikeouts, set by Ryan Arrowood in 2012.
BEAT THE DRUM
Fifth-year senior
Luke Drumheller is among the most experienced players in all of college baseball. He has started 197 consecutive games for the Mountaineers at second base and has played a total of 214 games in his career, which is tied for 22
nd among active Division 1 players, and 3
rd in App State history. Drumheller is slashing .312/.423/.423 in 41 games, including 14 multi-hit contests, highlighted by a four-hit game against Campbell on March 10. The Charlotte native has tallied 252 hits in his career, and ranks fifth in hits in program history. Drumheller has hit safely in 20 of his last 22 games and has not gone hitless in consecutive games all season, hitting safely in 34 of 40 games. Drumheller was a first team All-Conference selection at second base in 2021.
AWESOME ANDREW
Andrew Terrell has been on a tear at the plate as of late, tallying four consecutive three-hit ballgames from April 23-April 30. Terrell has been scorching in Sun Belt play, batting .400 this season against conference opponents. The Mountaineer third baseman has reached base safely in each of his last 12 games. The 5
th year senior also stole his 12
th base of the season on Sunday, the most by a Mountaineer since the 2013 campaign.
App State will host their final series of the season at Smith Stadium, as they take on Arkansas State next Friday through Sunday.
