BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball will hit the road this weekend as the team travels to Rock Hill, S.C. for a three-game series with Winthrop. First pitch on Friday is set for 3 p.m., with Saturday's contest slated for 2 p.m. The series concludes on Sunday with first pitch set for 1 p.m. in the finale. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
At 9-3 on the season, App State will look to bounce back after a lopsided loss to Duke on Tuesday. Prior to that, the Mountaineers had won eight of their last nine games of the season. App State posted a series win over Southern Illinois last weekend, outscoring the Salukis 17-2 over the final two games of the series. The Mountaineers are led at the plate by a pair of newcomers.
Drew Holderbach is batting .378 and is reaching base at a .610 clip this season, while
Banks Tolley has four home runs and is batting .353 on the year.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
The Eagles are riding a three-game winning streak going into this weekend against the Mountaineers. The Eagles are currently first in the Big South in shutouts, strikeout-to-walk ratio, WHIP and walks allowed in nine innings. Jaylen Hernandez is a large part of the Eagles, ranking first in the conference with seven doubles in his first nine games. On the mound, Riley Huge leads the country with 37 strikeouts and struck out 20 batters in his outing last weekend against Maine on his way to earning National Pitcher of the Week Honors. The Eagles are coached by Tom Riginos. Now in his 14
th season, Riginos was an assistant coach at Clemson for eight seasons before joining the Eagles.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Winthrop have met up 25 times in program history, with the Eagles leading the series 18-7. The teams last met in 2021, when the Mountaineers kicked off their season by taking two of three in the series in Rock Hill.
PITCHING MATCHUP
LHP Riley Huge (WIN) vs. RHP
Bradley Wilson (APP)
RHP Reese Lumpkin (WIN) vs. RHP
Jackson Steensma (APP)
RHP Owen Sarna (WIN) vs RHP
Dante Chirico (APP)
COACHING CONNECTION
Winthrop Assistant Coach Ryan Smoot is in his second season as a member of the Eagles' coaching staff. Smoot previously was the Mountaineers' Volunteer Assistant Coach, serving in that role from 2021-2022. Smoot was a four-year catcher at VMI, graduating in 2019.
BOMBS AWAY
App State has hit 18 home runs through 12 games this season, which is fourth most among Sun Belt teams. 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.
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 .387/.610/.622/1.232 and has tallied 14 hits, 14 walks, and been hit by eight pitches, reaching base safely in all 12 games this season, while currently riding an eight-game hitting streak. Holdebach has reached base 36 times in 59 plate appearances this season, and his on-base percentage ranks second in the Sun Belt and 14
th in the nation.
TAKE IT TO THE BANKS
Banks Tolley has been seeing the ball well early in the season, slashing .353/.450/.667/1.117 with four home runs and 12 RBIs, starting in all 12 games this season. The Ole Miss transfer has also walked six times and been hit by three pitches. Last week, Tolley tallied 17 total bases with three doubles and two home runs, leading the Mountaineers to a 3-1 week. His 18 hits this season rank seventh in the Sun Belt.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
App State starting pitchers were terrific over the weekend in their series win at Southern Illinois.
Bradley Wilson,
Jackson Steensma and
Dante Chirico combined to work 17 innings, allowing just four earned runs (2.12 ERA) on seven hits, while striking out 14.
BASHIN' BOYD
Senior outfielder
CJ Boyd has 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.
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 12 games this season, the App State defense has committed just nine errors in 419 chances for a team fielding percentage of .979, which ranks fifth in the Sun Belt and 48
th nationally.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
App State has registered a .408 on-base percentage this season, in large part due to being hit by a lot of pitches. App State batters have been hit 32 times in 12 games, a mark that leads the Sun Belt and ranks sixth in the country. Individually,
Drew Holderbach has been hit by eight pitches, which leads the conference and ranks 17
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 on Tuesday.
2023 RECAP
App State enjoyed their best season in a decade last season, going 30-25 on the season and 16-13 in Sun Belt play. App State knocked off No. 8/7 Coastal Carolina on the road on May 5, and then toppled 16
th Ranked Southern Miss in the Sun Belt tournament. The team finished 88
th nationally in RPI, their best mark in seven seasons under
Kermit Smith. App State finished sixth in the Sun Belt, their best finish since joining the league in 2015, and boasted top-10 statistical seasons in runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs, stolen bases, batters struck out, saves and fielding percentage.
FAST & PHYSICAL
A focus going into 2023 was for the team to play a faster and more physical style of baseball. The Mountaineers went on to steal 73 bases, their ninth most in program history and most since 2013, doing so in 85 tries (86%). The team also belted 67 home runs, their fourth-most all-time and most since 2008.
CJ Boyd tied a program record with 17 home runs, while
Golston Gillespie added 15 long balls. So far in 2024, App State has hit 18 home runs and stolen 19 bases in 12 games.
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 be back on the road next week as they take on Queens at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. App State will conclude their road swing next weekend with a three-game series at Texas State to open Sun Belt play.
