ATLANTA, Ga. –
Xavier Moronta notched a career-high six RBIs on Sunday, leading App State to a 13-9 win and a series sweep over Georgia State at the GSU Baseball Complex.
App State (26-14-1, 11-9-1) is now unbeaten over its last seven ballgames, and with back-to-back Sun Belt series wins, has vaulted itself into fifth place in the conference standings.
The Mountaineers stormed out of the gates in the finale, sending 12 men to the plate in the first inning.
Drew Holderbach worked a one-out walk to begin the rally, extending his on-base streak to 41 consecutive games, the second-longest stretch in program history.
After Holderbach advanced to second on a wild pitch,
Banks Tolley drove him in with an RBI single to give the Mountaineers the early lead. Following a
CJ Boyd singled to left, Moronta followed suit with an RBI single to center field. With the bases loaded not long after,
Hunter Wilder delivered a two-run double to center field, and after a
Tommy Walker RBI single,
Joseph Zamora capped the seven-run first inning with a two-run single to center.
After Georgia State (21-23, 10-11) chipped away over the next few innings to cut the lead to 7-5, the Mountaineers again put together a big inning in the fourth.
Austin St. Laurent led off the inning with a single through the left side, and after a walk to Holderbach, Tolley registered an RBI single to center to make it 8-5. Boyd then singled to load the bases, setting up Moronta, who crushed a grand slam to right field to push the Black and Gold in front 12-5.
Moronta capped his career-day with an RBI single up the middle in the eighth.
Max Tramontana earned his first career win in relief, striking out three in 2.2 innings, while allowing just one run. Tramontana entered with the bases loaded and nobody in the third inning and was able to limit the damage and keep the Mountaineers in the lead.
Following three scoreless innings in his start on Tuesday,
Trey Tujetsch came out of the bullpen on Sunday to deliver a scoreless seventh and eighth inning. The senior struck out two, without allowing a base hit.
Zach Lewis followed with a scoreless ninth inning to slam the door shut and secure the Mountaineers' first conference sweep of the season.
App State will be back in action on Tuesday as the Mountaineers travel to Shelby, N.C. to face off with No. 8 Wake Forest. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. from Keeter Stadium.
The 2024 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
