BOONE, N.C. – Following a series win over Marshall, App State continues its homestand against High Point in a midweek showdown on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State enters the week 17-8 on the season and 5-4 in Sun Belt play, following consecutive series wins over Coastal Carolina and Marshall. The offense has really excelled as of late scoring at least eight runs and tallying at least 10 hits in each of the last seven games. Against Marshall,
Banks Tolley hit three home runs, while
Joseph Zamora batted at least .500 for the second week in a row.
Kameron Miller also hit his first career home runs, going deep in the final two games of the series. The Mountaineers now have five everyday players batting over .300 on the season.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
High Point has won seven consecutive games following back-to-back weekend sweeps of Richmond and Radford. Cael Chatham leads the Panthers offense, batting .340 on the season with seven home runs and 23 RBIs. He has also pitched in five games and has yet to allow an earned run. Bryan Rivera has started each of the Panthers last two midweek games, and against Davidson last week, tossed five scoreless innings. The Panthers boast a .982 fielding percentage which is 10th best in the nation, while they also lead the Big South in walks and doubles.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and High Point are meeting for the second time this season and the 60
th time in program history. App State has won each of the last five meetings, including a 7-1 win in High Point on Feb. 20. The Mountaineers hold a 35-24 advantage in the all-time series.
WINNING WAYS
App State is off to a 17-8 start to the season, which is their best record through 25 games since 2012, when the Mountaineers started 20-5, 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.
INSTANT OFFENSE
The Mountaineers offense has been impressive as of late, and has scored double-digit runs in ten games this year. Overall, the Mountaineers have scored 240 runs which is second-most in the Sun Belt and 22
nd in the nation. The App State offense also ranks second in the conference in on-base percentage (.426), second in slugging (.512), second in home runs (45) and fourth in batting average (.289).
BOMBS AWAY
App State has hit 45 home runs through 25 games this season, which is second-most among Sun Belt teams and 29
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. Last 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. The Mountaineers have hit at least three home runs in a game seven times this year.
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 .321/.528/.571/1.099 and has tallied 27 hits, 23 walks, and been hit by 15 pitches, reaching base safely in all 25 games this season. Holderbach belted the go-ahead home run in the March 17 win at Texas State, 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 .528 on-base percentage ranks second in the Sun Belt and 39
th nationally.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Despite hitting ninth in the batting order,
Joseph Zamora has had a major impact on the Mountaineers offensive attack. Zamora is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak, going 16-for-30 (.533) with 17 RBIs and eight runs scored over that span. Even more impressively, he has doubled in seven consecutive games. Zamora was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on March 26, following 10 hits and 10 RBIs the week prior, helping the Mountaineers to a series win over No. 13 Coastal Carolina. He has raised his average by 118 points the last seven games.
TAKE IT TO THE BANKS
Banks Tolley has been seeing the ball well this season, slashing .343/.461/.724/1.185 with 11 home runs and 33 RBIs, starting in all 25 games this season. The Ole Miss transfer has hit safely in 21 of 25 games this season and is currently in the midst of a six-game hitting streak. Tolley ranks second in the Sun Belt in home runs, second in total bases, third in slugging and sixth in RBIs. Tolley has also been an exceptional defender in center field.
SUPER STEENSMA
Sophomore
Jackson Steensma retired the first seven batters he faced on Saturday against Marshall, and didn't allow a hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning. Steensma has been impressive in each of his last two starts, combining to go 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and strike out 11 batters against Coastal Carolina and Marshall. He also tossed a career-high six innings in both outings.
IT'S MILLER TIME
Kameron Miller had a weekend to remember, going 6-for-13 with two home runs and seven RBIs against Marshall. The freshman hit his first career home run on Saturday, a 455-foot blast, and followed it up with a three-hit, six-RBI day on Sunday, including another home run.
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 10 appearances this season and has allowed just three earned runs across 12.1 innings of work. Lewis has struck out 13 while allowing just six hits, collecting a pair of saves. The righty tossed two innings in relief on Saturday against Marshall to earn his first win of the year.
GRAND GRAHAM
Redshirt freshman
Graham Smiley enjoyed a career-day at the plate last 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.
BASHIN' BOYD
After matching a program record with 17 home runs a season ago,
CJ Boyd is on pace to eclipse that mark this season, having already gone deep 10 times in 25 games. Boyd has now hit 27 career home runs which ties him for eighth place on the App State career list, despite playing just 70 games in a Black & Gold uniform.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
App State has registered a .426 on-base percentage this season, in large part due to being hit by a lot of pitches. App State batters have been hit 74 times in 25 games, a mark that leads the Sun Belt and ranks second in the country. Individually,
Drew Holderbach has been hit by 15 pitches, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks eighth in the nation.
LEATHERMEN
Through 25 games this season, the App State defense has committed just 21 errors in 873 chances for a team fielding percentage of .976, which ranks second in the Sun Belt and 51
st nationally.
SUPERB SUN BELT
App State enters Tuesday's contest against High Point with an RPI of 71, sitting as one of ten Sun Belt teams inside the top-80 in college baseball. The Sun Belt continues to be one of the top conferences in college baseball, ranking fourth in the nation in RPI, ahead of the Big Ten and Pac12. Last season nine Sun Belt teams finished in the Top-100 in RPI, with four Sun Belt squads advancing to the regional round of the NCAA tournament.
UP NEXT
App State will travel to Harrisonburg for a three-game weekend series with JMU. Friday and Saturday's contests will get underway at 6 p.m., with the finale slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
