BOONE, N.C. – The App State offense batted around in the fourth inning, scoring five times, helping the Mountaineers pull away for an 11-3 victory over High Point in front of 1,296 fans, the second-largest crowd in Smith Stadium history.
Leading 4-3 in the fourth inning, App State (18-8, 5-4) erupted with one away.
Austin St. Laurent singled to left field for his third hit of the ballgame, and
Banks Tolley followed with a double up the left-center alleyway to score St. Laurent all the way from first base. One batter later,
Braxton Church crushed a double of his own, into the left field corner, to increase the lead to 6-3.
After a High Point (14-15, 4-2) pitching change, the Mountaineers continued to add on with two outs.
Adam Quintero beat the shift with a grounder through the right side to score Church, and after walks to
Hunter Wilder and
Tommy Walker,
Joseph Zamora capped the inning with a two-run double to right. Zamora has now doubled in eight straight games.
App State also batted around in the first inning to jump in front 4-0.
CJ Boyd led off the game with his 11
th home run of the season to move him into a tie for sixth place on the App State career home list with 28.
Following a pair of singles from St. Laurent and Tolley,
Drew Holderbach brought in a run with a single up the middle. He has now reached base in all 26 games this season.
Later in the inning, Wilder walked with the bases loaded and Walker plated a run with a sac fly.
Holderbach capped the scoring with a two two-run home run in the fifth, his fifth long ball of the season.
Meanwhile on the mound,
Ryan Sleeper earned his first win of the season with 1.1 scoreless in relief.
Everette Harris followed with 1.1 scoreless innings of his own, helped by an inning-ending double play.
Max Tramontana, Grey LaSpaluto and
Zach Lewis each tossed a scoreless inning to close out the ballgame, with Lewis striking out the side in the ninth. App State pitching recorded 11 strikeouts in the ballgame.
The Mountaineers will be back in action this weekend as they travel to Harrisonburg, Va. for a three-game series with JMU. Friday and Saturday are slated for 6 p.m. with the finale on Sunday set for 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The 2024 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
