BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball continues its road swing in Kannapolis, Tuesday, as the Mountaineers face the Queens Royals in the first game of a home-and-home series this season. The contest will be played at Atrium Health Ballpark, home of the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox, Single-A) with first pitch slated for 6:30 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
The Mountaineers split their abbreviated weekend series with Winthrop over the weekend, falling 9-6 on Friday before rebounding for a 16-1 triumph on Sunday, following Saturday's rainout. App State recorded a season-high 18 hits on Sunday, including a pair of home runs, while
Jackson Steensma and
Dante Chirico combined to allow just five base runners on the afternoon, while striking out 13. The Mountaineers are now 10-4 on the season, and are one of eight Sun Belt teams with double digit victories on the year. App State is led at the plate by
Banks Tolley, who is batting .361 with six home runs and 17 RBIs. Meanwhile the App State pitching staff has held opponents to a batting average of .242 on the year.
SCOUTING THE ROYALS
Queens is off to a 4-12 start to the season after being swept on the road by Tennessee Tech this past weekend. The Royals were also swept at home by Lehigh the weekend prior. The 2024 campaign marks the second season for the Royals at the Division I level after making the jump from D-II to join the Atlantic Sun Conference last season. At the plate the Royals are led by Dillon Lewis who is batting .364 with five home runs and 14 RBIs. Queens has struggled on the mound this season, with the pitching staff holding an 8.61 ERA, and allowing more than eight walks-per-nine innings, with opponents' batting .291 on the year.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Queens met for the first time in program history last season with the Mountaineers winning three of the four matchups. The Mountaineers were Queens first D-I opponent, hosting the Royals in a three-game series in Hickory, and sweeping the Royals to open the year. Queens rebounded for a 10-4 win at Truist Field (home of the Charlotte Knights – White Sox, AAA) on March 29.
PITCHING MATCHUP
RHP Carson Magill (0-0, 4.35) vs. LHP
Tyler Tuthill (0-0, 3.86)
WINNING WAYS
App State is off to a 10-4 start to the season, which is their best record through 14 games since 2012, when the Mountaineers started 14-2, winning 12-straight, beginning with a pair of wins over No. 7 LSU in Baton Rouge on their way to a program-record 41 wins. App State has not dropped a weekend series this season, winning three (including a sweep of Siena), splitting a two-game series with Winthrop.
KING TUT RETURNS
After missing the entirety of the 2023 season recovering from Tommy John Surgery, 6
th year Mountaineer
Tyler Tuthill made his triumphant return to the mound. Pitching the second inning against High Point last Tuesday, Tuthill retired the side in order with a flyout, a groundout, and a strikeout to end the inning. It marked the first time he pitched for the Mountaineers in 642 days. Tuthill has ramped up his workload this season, throwing 23 pitches in 2.0 innings at ETSU, Feb. 27, and working up to 43 pitches over 1.2 innings at Duke last Tuesday. Tuthill will make the star against Queens, his first since May 19, 2022 against Troy.
BOMBS AWAY
App State has hit 24 home runs through 14 games this season, which is fourth most among Sun Belt teams and 40
th nationally. After hitting just 29 home runs as a team in 2022, App State has seen a major uptick in the power department the last two seasons, slugging 67 home runs in 2023. On Feb. 25 at Siena,
Banks Tolley,
Braxton Church, and
Drew Holderbach hit back-to-back-to-back home runs, marking the first time since April 14, 2017 against Georgia Southern that the Mountaineers had hit three consecutive long balls in a game. App State is on pace to hit 87 home runs this season.
ALL ABOARD
Drew Holderbach has been a valuable addition for the Mountaineers this season, after joining the team as a grad transfer from Rice. The first baseman is slashing .348/.551/.609/1.160 and has tallied 16 hits, 14 walks, and been hit by eight pitches, reaching base safely in all 14 games this season. Holderbach is currently riding a 12-game hitting streak, going 13-for-40 (.325) over that span. Holderbach's .551 on-base percentage ranks second in the Sun Belt and 47
th nationally.
TAKE IT TO THE BANKS
Banks Tolley has been seeing the ball well early in the season, slashing .361/.451/.721/1.172 with six home runs and 17 RBIs, starting in all 14 games this season. The Ole Miss transfer has also walked six times and been hit by four pitches. Tolley has hit safely in 12 of 14 games this season, including seven multi-hit efforts. Tolley ranks tied for fourth in the Sun Belt in home runs with six, and eighth in hits with 22.
SUPER STEENSMA
Sophomore right-hander
Jackson Steensma has been impressive on the mound this season as he's made the transition from closer to starter. Over his last three starts, Steensma has allowed just one earned run over 14 innings of work (0.64 ERA) and has struck out 18 batters, while allowing just 16 total base runners. App State has won each of his last three starts with Steensma earning the win in two off the wins.
DANTE'S INFERNO
Dante Chirico has picked up the win in each of his last three outings (2 starts). After having his start washed out on Saturday, he came out of the bullpen against Winthrop on Sunday and fired five innings, allowing just one run on three hits. Over his last three outings, Chirico has allowed just four earned runs in 16 innings of work (2.25 ERA) while striking out 18 and walking just five.
BASHIN' BOYD
Senior outfielder
CJ Boyd was been named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt team. Boyd was named first-team All-Conference following last season and garnered a spot on the Sun Belt All-Tournament team in 2023. Boyd recorded a seven-game hitting streak from Feb. 18 – March 1 going 12-for-31 (.387) with four home runs, 11 RBIs and 11 runs scored, and on the season is slashing .305/.440/.644/1.084 with six home runs and 17 RBIs.
Boyd enjoyed one of the most productive offensive seasons in App State history, slashing .364/.399/.712 in 45 games (43 starts) for the Mountaineers. The transfer from East Carolina tied a program record with 17 home runs, blasting 12 homers in his final 16 games of the season. Boyd hit safely in the final 19 games of the year, going 42-for-93 (.452) over that span. Boyd became the first Mountaineer since Wes Hobson (2010) to finish a season with double-digit home runs, doubles and stolen bases. He finished top 10 in the Sun Belt in batting average, slugging, OPS and home runs.
THE ZACH ATTACK
Redshirt sophomore
Zach Lewis has been superb in the back end of the Mountaineers' bullpen this season. Lewis leads the team with six appearances this season and has yet to allow a run. He has struck out nine while allowing just one hit, collecting his first save of the year at ETSU on Feb. 27. The right-hander topped out at 94 miles-per-hour in that outing.
LEATHERMEN
Through 14 games this season, the App State defense has committed just 10 errors in 478 chances for a team fielding percentage of .979, which ranks second in the Sun Belt and 33
rd nationally.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
App State has registered a .411 on-base percentage this season, in large part due to being hit by a lot of pitches. App State batters have been hit 36 times in 14 games, a mark that leads the Sun Belt and ranks sixth in the country. Individually,
Drew Holderbach has been hit by eight pitches, which ranks second in the Sun Belt and 11
th in the nation.
SUPERB SUN BELT
The Sun Belt continues to be one of the top conferences in college baseball, ranking fifth in the nation in RPI, ahead of the Big Ten last season. Nine Sun Belt teams finished in the Top-100 in RPI individually, with four Sun Belt squads advancing to the regional round of the NCAA tournament a year ago. The Sun Belt has continued that success this season with eight top-100 teams entering the week.
UP NEXT
App State will wrap up their 11-game road trip by opening Sun Belt play at Texas State with a three-game series in San Marcos, Texas. First pitch on Friday is set for 7 p.m. ET with the middle game on Saturday scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The series wraps up on Sunday, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. in the finale. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
