BOONE, N.C. – App State will play at Smith Stadium for the first time this season, as the team hosts Queens on Tuesday at 4 p.m. for the second game of a home-and-home series this season. The Mountaineers have played their first 18 games away from Smith Stadium this season, including 15 true road contests. Tuesday's game against the Royals will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
The Mountaineers dropped their first series of Sun Belt play on the road at Texas State. App State was able to salvage the finale thanks to a go-ahead two run home run from
Drew Holderbach in the seventh inning, following a lengthy weather delay. The Mountaineers got an impressive start from
Bradley Wilson on Friday, as the righty tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. The Mountaineers are now 12-6 on the season, and are one of 12 Sun Belt teams with double digit victories on the year. App State is led at the plate by
Banks Tolley, who is batting .338 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs.
Zach Lewis has been the Mountaineers most relied upon reliever, allowing just one run while striking out 11 in eight appearances this year.
SCOUTING THE ROYALS
The Royals have a 4-16 record for the beginning of the season. After falling to App State last Tuesday, Queens was swept in their weekend series by North Florida and has lost seven straight games. Queens pulled two out of their three wins against Niagara in late February, and are currently playing in their second season at the Division I level after joining the Atlantic Sun last year. The Royals led by Dillon Lewis who holds a .350 batting average with five home runs and 15 RBIs.
SERIES HISTORY
App State is looking for the season sweep of the Royals after topping Queens 14-5 in their meeting in Kannapolis last Tuesday. The Mountaineers scored six in the eighth and three in the ninth to pull away for the win. App State and Queens met for the first time in program history last season with the Mountaineers winning three of the four matchups.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Isaiah Bennett (0-0, 11.32) vs. LHP
Tyler Tuthill (1-0, 2.35)
WINNING WAYS
App State is off to a 12-6 start to the season, which is their best record through 18 games since 2012, when the Mountaineers started 17-3, 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.
BOMBS AWAY
App State has hit 29 home runs through 15 games this season, which is fourth most among Sun Belt teams and 42
nd 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 .339/.529/.593/1.122 and has tallied 20 hits, 15 walks, and been hit by 10 pitches, reaching base safely in all 18 games this season. Holderbach belted the go-ahead home run in Sunday's win, which was the longest home run hit by a Mountaineer in recorded history, traveling 465 feet. Holderbach tallied an 11-game hitting streak from Feb. 20 through March 10. His .529 on-base percentage ranks third in the Sun Belt.
TAKE IT TO THE BANKS
Banks Tolley has been seeing the ball well early in the season, slashing .338/.456/.676/1.132 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs, starting in all 18 games this season. The Ole Miss transfer has also walked 10 times and been hit by six pitches. Tolley has hit safely in 15 of 18 games this season, including seven multi-hit efforts. Tolley ranks tied for fifth in the Sun Belt in home runs with seven.
DANTE'S INFERNO
Dante Chirico has exceled in the Sunday starter's role for the mountaineers. Over his last four outings, Chirico has allowed just five earned runs in 21 innings of work, striking out 20, while walking just seven, posting a 2.14 ERA over that span. Chirico's three wins are tied for second most in the Sun Belt.
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. Batting in the leadoff spot for the Mountaineers this season, Boyd is slashing .297/.436/.635/1.071 with seven home runs and 19 RBIs. His seven homers are tied for fifth in the Sun Belt, while his 25 runs scored are ninth in the conference.
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 eight appearances this season and has allowed just one earned run. He has struck out 11 while allowing just three hits, collecting a pair of saves. The righty has consistently thrown his fastball in the mid-90s this season.
LEATHERMEN
Through 18 games this season, the App State defense has committed just 13 errors in 614 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 .403 on-base percentage this season, in large part due to being hit by a lot of pitches. App State batters have been hit 49 times in 18 games, a mark that ranks second in the Sun Belt and ranks seventh in the country. Individually,
Drew Holderbach has been hit by nine pitches, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 10
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
App State enters the week with an RPI of 91, sitting as one of nine Sun Belt teams inside the top-100 in college baseball. 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 a year ago, with four Sun Belt squads advancing to the regional round of the NCAA tournament.
UP NEXT
App State will host No. 13 Coastal Carolina in a three-game weekend series at Smith Stadium. First pitch Friday is set for 6 p.m. with the middle game slated for 3 p.m. on Saturday. The series concludes on Sunday, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. in the finale. App State has not beaten a ranked opponent in Boone since topping an 18
th ranked Coastal team in the final regular season game of 2018.
