CULLOWHEE, N.C. – App State allowed six runs in the first inning and was unable to recover, falling 10-5 to Western Carolina in a midweek contest Tuesday at Hennon Stadium.
Despite the early deficit,
Austin St. Laurent helped the offense chip away through the middle innings. The Mountaineer third baseman finished the contest going 3-for-4 and drove in three of the Mountaineers four runs and scored two of them. He finished a triple shy of the cycle.
St. Laurent led off the sixth inning with a double down the left field line. One batter later
Banks Tolley lined an RBI single to get the Mountaineers on the board at 10-1.
One inning later,
Graham Smiley singled up the middle to begin the frame, and
CJ Boyd was hit by a pitch with two outs to put two men aboard. St. Laurent followed with his tenth home run of the season, blasting it over the left field fence, to trim the deficit to 10-4.
App State (20-14, 6-9) added a run in the ninth on a Boyd RBI groundout, plating
Hunter Wilder, who led off the inning with a single to right field.
The Mountaineers used eight different pitchers in the ballgame.
Cody Little closed out the first inning and worked 1.2 scoreless on the evening. App State did not allow a run after the fourth, as
Tyler Tuthill,
Ryan Sleeper,
Jordan Fisher,
Grey LaSpaluto and
Max Tramontana combined for 4.2 scoreless innings of work.
Drew Holderbach recorded a 1-for-3 effort, extending his on-base streak to 34 games.
The Mountaineers will continue their road trip this weekend as they head to Jonesboro, Ark. for a three-game set with Arkansas State. First pitch on Friday is set for 7 p.m. ET with Saturday's game slated for 5 p.m. ET. The series wraps up on Sunday with first pitch set for 1 p.m. ET in the finale.
The 2024 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
