BOONE, N.C. – The App State Baseball returns to conference play this weekend as the Mountaineers travel to Jonesboro, Ark. for a three-game series against Arkansas State. First pitch on Friday is set for 7 p.m. ET with game two on Saturday slated for 5 p.m. ET. The series concludes on Sunday with first pitch set for 1 p.m. ET in the finale. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State enters the week 20-14 on the season and 6-9 in Sun Belt play, marking the fastest that the Mountaineers have reached the 20-win plateau since 2013. The Mountaineers are looking to bounce back from a 10-5 setback on Tuesday at Western Carolina in which App State fell behind 6-0 in the first inning.
Austin St. Laurent led the Mountaineers at the plate, finishing a triple shy of the cycle, including hitting his tenth home run of the year.
Drew Holderbach extended his on-base streak to 34 consecutive games, while six App State relievers recorded a scoreless outing. App State is led by a trio of players who boast an OPS of over 1.000 this season in
Austin St. Laurent,
Banks Tolley, and
Drew Holderbach. The season has been highlighted by a series win over No. 13 Coastal Carolina, the first series win over a top-15 opponent since defeating No. 7 LSU in 2012.
SCOUTING THE RED WOLVES
Arkansas State enters the weekend 17-20 on the season and 4-11 in Sun Belt play. The Red Wolves had their midweek contest against Ole Miss canceled due to inclement weather. Last weekend the Red Wolves lost two of three games at South Alabama. Arkansas State began the season 8-0, their best start since 1997, including a 4-2 win at Ole Miss, their first win over the Rebels since 2008. The Red Wolves are led at the plate by Allen Grier who is batting .310 on the season, but as a team they are hitting just .251 with 35 home runs. Dylan Heine has been one of the best starters in the Sun Belt this season, posting a 2.79 ERA through nine starts on the campaign.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Arkansas State have faced off 18 times, all since the Mountaineers joined the Sun Belt in 2015. App State leads the all-time series 10-8. App State has won seven straight head-to-head meetings, including sweep in Boone last year, highlighted by
Andrew Terrell's walk-off grand slam on his final swing at Smith Stadium in a run rule victory.
PITCHING MATCHUP
RHP
Bradley Wilson (1-3, 8.70)
RHP
Jackson Steensma (4-1, 4.12)
RHP
Dante Chirico (3-1, 6.05)
INSTANT OFFENSE
The Mountaineers offense has been impressive this season, and has scored double-digit runs in 12 games this year. Overall, the Mountaineers are averaging 8.9 runs-per-game which is third-most in the Sun Belt and 20
th in the nation. The App State offense also ranks leads the conference in home runs (61), and ranks second in slugging (.515), and triples (10), third in on-base percentage (.415), and fifth in doubles (67).
BOMBS AWAY
App State has hit 61 home runs through 34 games this season, which is the most among Sun Belt teams and 24
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. App State tied a program record by hitting five home runs in a ballgame, doing so twice this season, once against Queens on March 19 and once against Troy on April 13. It marks the third and fourth times in program history and the first time since 2008 that App State has gone deep five times in a game. The program record for home runs in a season is 90, established in 1986, but no team has hit more than 67 in the BBCOR bat era (2011-present).
ALL SAINTS DAY
Redshirt junior
Austin St. Laurent has been red hot at the plate as of late, hitting safely in 14 of his last 15 games. Over that span he has gone 31-for-66 (.470), with five home runs, 21 RBIs and 26 runs scored. St. Laurent has slugged ten home runs this season, eclipsing his total (6) from his first two years combined. After playing first base and shortstop as a freshman and center field as a sophomore, St. Laurent has settled in as the Mountaineers everyday third baseman this season. Overall, he is slashing .362/.420/.651/1.071. He ranks second in the Sun Belt in hits (54), fourth in runs scored (48), fourth in RBIs (42), and sixth in average.
TAKE IT TO THE BANKS
Banks Tolley has been seeing the ball well this season, slashing .362/.473/.732/1.205 with 14 home runs and 43 RBIs, starting in all 34 games this season. The Ole Miss transfer has hit safely in 29 of 34 games, including 16 multi-hit efforts. Tolley leads the Sun Belt in slugging, ranks tied for first in home runs, third in total bases (101), and third in RBIs. On April 2 against High Point, Tolley ripped a single to left field that left the bat at 113.62 miles-per-hour, the hardest hit ball by a Mountaineer in the TrackMan era. He is three home runs shy of the single-season record.
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 .319/.506/.560/1.066 and has tallied 37 hits, 29 walks, and been hit by 16 pitches – compared to just 21 strikeouts, reaching base safely in all 34 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. He ranks third in the Sun Belt in on-base percentage and fifth in walks.
SUPER STEENSMA
After recording seven saves as a closer his freshman season,
Jackson Steensma has been superb since moving into the starting rotation as a sophomore. Steensma is coming off a career-high ten strikeouts in a win over Troy on April 13, allowing just five baserunners over six innings of work. Steensma is now 4-1 on the season with a 4.12 ERA and has struck out 46 batters in 43.2 innings of work. He has gone at least five innings in six of his nine starts this season.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Despite hitting ninth in the batting order,
Joseph Zamora has had a major impact on the Mountaineers offensive attack. Zamora recorded an 11-game hitting streak, from March 19 – April 7 going 22-for-46 (.478), with nine doubles, 20 RBIs, and ten runs scored over that span. 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.
GRAHAM SLAM
Redshirt freshman
Graham Smiley enjoyed a career-day at the plate March 19 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) and
Kameron Miller as the only players to drive in six runs in a game since App State joined the Sun Belt Conference. Smiley hit a walk-off two-run home run in the seventh inning against Troy on April 13 for a run-rule win. Smiley also hit a second grand slam on April 6 at JMU. In nine starts this season, Smiley has hit five home runs, accounting for all but three of his hits this year.
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 13 times in 34 games. Boyd has now hit 30 career home runs which ties him for fourth place on the App State career list, despite playing just 79 games in a Black & Gold uniform. A first team All-Conference selection in 2023, and a preseason All-Conference selection this season, Boyd was ranked as the 64
th best outfielder in the nation on the D1baseball.com midseason rankings.
WHAT A RELIEF
Senior right-hander
Grey LaSpaluto is undefeated out of the Mountaineers bullpen this season, boasting a 5-0 record, joining Troy closer Noah Manning as the only pitchers in the conference to have won five or more games without a loss this season. Four of LaSpaluto's last five outings have been scoreless, striking out nine batters in 6.1 innings over that span.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
App State has registered a .415 on-base percentage this season, in large part due to being hit by a lot of pitches. App State batters have been hit 87 times in 33 games, a mark that leads the Sun Belt and ranks fourth in the country. Individually,
Drew Holderbach has been hit by 16 pitches, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 18
th in the nation, while
Banks Tolley and
Hunter Wilder have each been hit 11 and 10 times respectively.
LEATHERMEN
Through 30 games this season, the App State defense has committed just 32 errors in 1,184 chances for a team fielding percentage of .973, which ranks fourth in the Sun Belt and 83
rd nationally. App State has finished with a fielding percentage above .972 just twice in a season in program history.
SUPERB SUN BELT
App State enters the weekend with an RPI of 99, sitting as one of 10 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 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 host ETSU on Tuesday in the second game of a home-and-home series and the final midweek home game at Smith Stadium this season. App State beat the Bucs 9-6 in Johnson City, Tenn. On Feb. 27. Tuesday's contest will begin at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
