BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball wraps up their 11-game road trip by opening Sun Belt in San Marcos, with a three-game weekend series against Texas State. 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+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
The Mountaineers are coming off a mid-week win over Queens, in which they scored nine runs over the final two innings, to win 14-5. App State has now plated 30 total runs over their last two ballgames. The Mountaineers are now 11-4 on the season, and are one of nine Sun Belt teams with double digit victories on the year. App State is led at the plate by
Banks Tolley, who is batting .349 with six home runs and 18 RBIs. Meanwhile the App State pitching staff has held opponents to a batting average of .247 on the year.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Texas State picked up a pair of midweek wins, topping Tarleton State and Houston Christian to snap a five-game losing skid. Overall, the Bobcats are 9-8 on the season, highlighted by a sweep of Youngstown State to open the year. Ryne Faber leads the team with a .413 batting average, whole Aaron Lugo has belted a team-high six home runs on the year. Despite holding a 4.56 ERA as a team, the Bobcats have struggled to find consistency in their starting rotation this season, with eight different pitchers making at least one start through 17 games.
SERIES HISTORY
Texas State has held the upper hand in the all-time series, leading the Mountaineers 17-2. Most recently, the then 20
th ranked Bobcats swept the Mountaineers in Boone in 2022, despite all three games being within a five-run margin. The Mountaineers most notable contest in the series was a 1-0 win at the 2021 Sun Belt tournament which marked App State's first postseason win as a Sun Belt member.
PITCHING MATCHUP
RHP Austin Eaton - TXST (1-1, 5.17) vs RHP
Bradley Wilson – APP (1-1, 7.71)
RHP Sam Hall – TXST (0-1, 4.73) vs RHP
Jackson Steensma – APP (2-0, 2.37)
RHP Drayton Brown – TXST (0-1, 2.77) vs RHP
Dante Chirico – APP (3-0, 5.00)
WINNING WAYS
App State is off to a 11-4 start to the season, which is their best record through 15 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.
BOMBS AWAY
App State has hit 24 home runs through 15 games this season, which is fourth most among Sun Belt teams and 47
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 .327/.534/.571/1.105 and has tallied 16 hits, 14 walks, and been hit by nine pitches, reaching base safely in all 15 games this season. Holderbach tallied an 11-game hitting streak from Feb. 20 through March 10. His .534 on-base percentage ranks second in the Sun Belt.
TAKE IT TO THE BANKS
Banks Tolley has been seeing the ball well early in the season, slashing .349/.468/.698/1.166 with six home runs and 18 RBIs, starting in all 15 games this season. The Ole Miss transfer has also walked nine times and been hit by five pitches. Tolley has hit safely in 12 of 15 games this season, including seven multi-hit efforts. Tolley ranks tied for sixth in the Sun Belt in home runs with six.
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 baserunners. 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 .306/.457/.661/1.118 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 seven appearances this season and has allowed just one earned run. He has struck out ten while allowing just three hits, 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 15 games this season, the App State defense has committed just 10 errors in 512 chances for a team fielding percentage of .980, which leads the Sun Belt and 24
th nationally.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
App State has registered a .417 on-base percentage this season, in large part due to being hit by a lot of pitches. App State batters have been hit 41 times in 15 games, a mark that ranks second in the Sun Belt and ranks eighth in the country. Individually,
Drew Holderbach has been hit by nine pitches, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 12
th in the nation.
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 made his first start of the season at Queens on March 12, tossing three scoreless innings and striking out two to earn the win.
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 nine top-100 teams entering the weekend.
UP NEXT
App State will play their first home games at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium next week as they face Queens on Tuesday at 6pm before welcoming 16th-ranked Coastal Carolina for a three-game weekend series Friday through Sunday. All four games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
