BOONE, N.C. – 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. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
Following a 15-5 win in seven innings over Queens on Tuesday, the Mountaineers are now 13-6 on the season. Tuesday saw the Mountaineers hit five home runs and they have now hit 34 on the season and score double-digit runs for the fifth time in 19 games. App State is led at the plate by
CJ Boyd who has a 1.192 OPS on the season with nine home runs and 22 RBIs on the year.
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 CHANTICLEERS
The Chanticleers moved up three spots this week to No. 13 in the D1Baseball top-25, following a series win over James Madison to open Sun Belt play. The Chanticleers dropped a mid-week contest with ACC foe NC State, but previously notched a win this season over No. 21 Campbell and swept both Liberty and Michigan in non-conference play. Coastal leads the country with 241 runs score this season, helped by an impressive .466 on-base percentage, as they rank fifth in the nation in walks and first in hit batsmen. They also rank 18
th in the country in fielding percentage. At the plate the Chanticleers are led by Blake Barthol, who own a 1.456 OPS with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs. On the mound, Friday night starter Alexander Meckley is 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA on the year.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Coastal Carolina have met up 17 times previously in an all-time series that dates back to 2002. The Chanticleers lead the series 14-3. Last season the Mountaineers earned a win against then-No. 8 Coastal Carolina in Conway, behind a record-setting strikeout performance from
Xander Hamilton, who led the Mountaineers pitching in a one-hit effort.
PITCHING MATCHUP
RHP Alexander Meckley (3-0, 2.60) vs. RHP
Bradley Wilson (1-1, 5.84)
RHP Riley Eikoff (1-0, 7.97) vs. RHP
Jackson Steensma (2-1, 5.57)
LHP Henry Weycker (1-0, 2.45) vs. RHP
Dante Chirico (3-0, 4.30)
APP STATE VS RANKED OPPONENTS
Last season App State knocked off No. 8 Coastal Carolina on May 5 and later took down 16th ranked Southern Miss in the Sun Belt tournament Semifinals on May 27. It marked the first time since 2016 that App State had beaten multiple ranked opponents in the same season, when App State defeated No. 23 South Alabama twice and No. 19 Louisiana. Prior to the two ranked wins last season, App State had not won a game against a ranked opponent since 2020 when they topped No. 24 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem.
WINNING WAYS
App State is off to a 13-6 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 34 home runs through 19 games this season, which is fourth most among Sun Belt teams and 31
st 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. Tuesday against Queens the Mountaineers slugged five home runs, marking just the third time in program history and the first time since 2008 that App State went deep five times in a single game.
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 .328/.533/.574/1.107 and has tallied 20 hits, 17 walks, and been hit by 11 pitches, reaching base safely in all 19 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 .533 on-base percentage ranks second in the Sun Belt and 44
th in the nation.
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 .325/.465/.727/1.192 with nine home runs and 22 RBIs. His nine homers are tied for second in the Sun Belt, he ranks seventh in the conference in runs scored (27) and eighth in slugging.
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.
In just 64 career games in two years in a Mountaineer uniform, Boyd has hit 26 home runs which ties him for tenth on the App State all-time list.
TAKE IT TO THE BANKS
Banks Tolley has been seeing the ball well early in the season, slashing .325/.453/.649/1.102 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs, starting in all 19 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 19 games this season, including seven multi-hit efforts. Tolley ranks tied for seventh 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.
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.
GRAND GRAHAM
Redshirt freshman
Graham Smiley enjoyed a career-day at the plate on Tuesday against Queens. Smiley hit his first collegiate home run in the fourth inning, and followed it up with a grand slam in the fifth, becoming the third Mountaineer to hit two home runs in a game this season. Smiley finished with six RBIs, joining
Golston Gillespie (twice) as the only players to drive in six runs since App State joined the Sun Belt.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
App State has registered a .412 on-base percentage this season, in large part due to being hit by a lot of pitches. App State batters have been hit 55 times in 19 games, a mark that ranks second in the Sun Belt and ranks seventh in the country. Individually,
Drew Holderbach has been hit by 11 pitches, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 9
th in the nation.
SUPERB SUN BELT
App State enters the weekend with an RPI of 87, sitting as one of ten 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.
National Recognition
CJ Boyd has received national recognition leading up to this season, earning a spot on the Perfect Game All-Sun Belt preseason team, in addition to being ranked as the 59th-best outfielder in the nation by D1baseball.com.
UP NEXT
App State will hit the road on Tuesday for a midweek contest against UNC Asheville. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
