Mountaineers Welcome Dukes to Boone for First Time Ever

BOONE, N.C. –  For the first time ever, the App State Mountaineers will host the James Madison Dukes at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium in a three-game set starting Friday. James Madison joined the Sun Belt before last season and the two teams met for the first time in over 17 years last April. First pitch is set for Friday at 5 p.m. with every game being streamed on ESPN+.
   
Last Time Out
In the Mountaineers' first midweek contest since March 11, App State took to Greensboro for a matchup with the North Carolina A&T Aggies. Despite trailing early, an eight-run fourth inning and a three-run fifth allowed the Mountaineers to take control and pull away for a run-rule victory.
 
Two-out hitting was crucial to App State's comeback win as all eight of its fourth-inning runs came with two outs. An Abby Cunningham walk after a popout helped start the rally and nine straight baserunners reached with two outs. Macy Hamby's three-RBI double tied the game and marked the first multi-RBI game of her career.
 
Three different players finished with multiple knocks in Kayt Houston, Grace Barrett and Hamby. For Houston, it was her 18th multi-hit game of the season. All three players also recorded multi-RBI games. Ambry Lucas was another bright spot for the Mountaineers as her pinch-hit two-RBI single marked her first multi-RBI game of the year.
 
Facing early adversity, Sejal Neas did a nice job of limiting some early damage to post a complete game. She struck out seven Aggies while walking none, continuing her streak of consecutive appearances without allowing more than two earned runs.
 
First Pitch  

• Head coach Shelly Hoerner sits just five wins away from 700 career head-coaching wins. She is already the winningest coach in program history with 157 and became the first Mountaineer head coach to reach 150 career wins after defeating ETSU on March 11. 

 

• Tallying three more hits against the Aggies on Wednesday, Houston tied Lindsay Glover's program record of 229 career hits. She became just the second player in program history to surpass 225 career hits last Sunday. Houston's five total bases on Wednesday also brought her to within one base of the program record of 370.

 

• App State's win in Conway last Friday marked the team's fourth victory on the road against Sun Belt Conference foes this season. It's the most road wins in a single season against conference teams since the 2019 team won 11 road contests against Sun Belt opponents. 

 

• Hot starts have helped fuel the Mountaineers to victories this season as they are 10-4 when scoring in the first inning and 13-6 when scoring the game's first run. App State has scored the first run in each of its Sun Belt wins this season. 

 

• Four runs have been the magic number for App State this season as they are 16-2 when eclipsing four runs. The only time the Mountaineers have lost when scoring at least four runs was to nationally ranked Louisiana on March 28 and the season-opener against Kent State. 

 

• Mountaineer pitchers have done well to limit base runners by pounding the strike zone every at-bat. Entering this weekend, App State owns the third-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the Sun Belt at 2.52. The Mountaineers have walked the second-fewest hitters in the league, trailing only Texas State. 

 

• On the offensive side, the Mountaineers are tough to strike out as they have gone down on strikes just 148 times in 38 games. Three players enter Friday's game in in the top 20 of the Sun Belt Conference in fewest strikeouts with Grace Barrett being the second-toughest hitter in the league to strike out. 

 
On the Mountaineers 

• Coach Hoerner boasts a deep squad as 12 different players have recorded a multi-hit game this season and 12 different players have tallied a multi-RBI game. Additionally, eight different Mountaineers have at least five two-hit contests this season. 

 

• Houston has had an exceptional season thus far and has continued that this week as she is in the top five of the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, OPS, hits and doubles. 

 

• After launching a seventh-inning homer to extend the Mountaineers' lead on Friday, Peyton Darnell has now homered in three of her last six contests. Entering the weekend, she is tied for third place in the conference in long balls and is one of eight players with at least nine home runs.

 

• The Mountaineer offensive unit has been stellar this year as they enter the weekend with the fifth-highest team batting average in the conference. Two players boast a top-25 batting average in Houston and Darnell while four players carry at least a .300 batting average entering Friday. 

 

• App State also hits home runs at a high clip, carrying the sixth-best mark in the league entering the weekend with 28 homers. The Mountaineers have hit a home run in five of their last seven contests and are 13-5 when going deep this season. 

 

• In the circle, Sejal Neas has led the way, making 19 starts. Her 3.03 ERA is on pace to be a career low and is currently the best on the team and the 14th-best mark in the Sun Belt. She has allowed fewer than two earned runs in each of her previous five appearances. 

 

• App State pitchers have done great at limiting hits this season as three of the Mountaineers' six pitchers hold a top-25 batting average against mark entering play against JMU. Neas is one of 14 pitchers in the Sun Belt with an opponent batting average of less than .250 entering the weekend. 

 
Series History 

• App State vs. James Madison
  • Record: 2-4
  • Last Meeting: April 29, 2023
  • Trends: 
    • The Dukes swept the Mountaineers last year in the first meeting between the two teams in over 17 years.
    •  This will be James Madison's first visit to Boone in program history.

 
Up Next
Once play concludes Sunday, the Mountaineers will prep for their penultimate midweek competition against Western Carolina next Tuesday. The two teams will play a doubleheader with the first game scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Both games can be streamed on ESPN+.