BOONE, N.C. – App State gets set to begin a four-game homestand this week, beginning with a midweek contest against UNC Asheville Tuesday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State enters the week 18-11 on the season and 5-7 in Sun Belt play after being swept by JMU over the weekend, in a series in which the Mountaineers were outscored 32-19. App State returns home where they are 9-2 this season, and unbeaten against non-conference opponents. 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. App State enters the week 85
th in the nation in RPI.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
UNC Asheville enters the matchup 12-18 on the season and 2-7 in Big South play, after dropping two of three games to High Point over the weekend. The Bulldogs faced a challenging schedule out of the gates with a three-game series at Georgia and a midweek contest against No. 9 Tennessee. Robbie Burnett leads the offensive attack for the Bulldogs, batting .333 with 11 home runs, which ranks second in the Big South. He and Ty Kaufman have each stolen double-digit bases this season and worked over 20 walks apiece. Justin Needles has been their most relied upon reliever, appearing in nine games in relief and striking out 23 batters in 24 innings of work. The Bulldogs defense has turned 33 double plays this season, which leads the Big South and ranks sixth nationally.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and UNC Asheville have met 69 times in program history, with App State holding a 45-24 advantage all-time. Last season the Mountaineers won 7-3 in Asheville but fell 7-6 in the matchup at Smith Stadium. The two teams were scheduled to face one another March 26 in Asheville, but the contest was postponed due to inclement weather.
PITCHING MATCHUP
LHP Bryce Fisher (0-1, 2.63) vs. RHP
Trey Tujetsch (2-1, 7.94)
INSTANT OFFENSE
The Mountaineers offense has been impressive this season, and has scored double-digit runs in 11 games this year. Overall, the Mountaineers are averaging 9.3 runs-per-game which is second-most in the Sun Belt and 13
th in the nation. The App State offense also ranks second in the conference in home runs (50), third in on-base percentage (.422), third in slugging and fourth in triples (7).
BOMBS AWAY
App State has hit 50 home runs through 29 games this season, which is second-most among Sun Belt teams and 29
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. March 19 against Queens, the Mountaineers slugged five home runs, marking just the third time in program history and the first time since 2008 that App State went deep five times in a single game. The Mountaineers have hit at least three home runs in a game seven times this year.
ALL SAINTS DAY
Redshirt junior
Austin St. Laurent has been red hot at the plate as of late, hitting safely in each of his last ten games. Over that span he has gone 24-for-51 (.471), with two home runs, 12 RBIs and 20 runs scored. St. Laurent has slugged seven 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 .359/.415/.603/1.018. He ranks second in the Sun Belt in hits (47), fourth in runs scored (42), and tenth in RBIs (33).
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 .320/.514/.570/1.084 and has tallied 32 hits, 25 walks, and been hit by 16 pitches, reaching base safely in all 29 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. His .514 on-base percentage ranks fourth in the Sun Belt and 40
th nationally.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Despite hitting ninth in the batting order,
Joseph Zamora has had a major impact on the Mountaineers offensive attack. Zamora is in the midst of an 11-game hitting streak, 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. He has raised his average by 127 points the last 11 games.
TAKE IT TO THE BANKS
Banks Tolley has been seeing the ball well this season, slashing .353/.469/.706/1.175 with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs, starting in all 29 games this season. The Ole Miss transfer has hit safely in 24 of 29 games, including 13 multi-hit efforts. Tolley ranks tied for third in the Sun Belt in home runs, second in total bases (84), second in slugging and sixth in RBIs. 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.
THE ZACH ATTACK
Redshirt sophomore
Zach Lewis has been superb in the back end of the Mountaineers' bullpen this season. Lewis leads the team with 12 appearances this season and has allowed just ten hits and six earned runs across 15.0 innings of work. Lewis has struck out 18 while collecting a pair of saves. The righty tossed two innings in relief on March 29 against Marshall to earn his first win of the year.
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) as the only players to drive in six runs since App State joined the Sun Belt. Smiley followed that up with another grand slam on April 6 at JMU, his second grand slam out of his first three career home runs, coming across just six starts at the collegiate level.
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 11 times in 29 games. Boyd has now hit 28 career home runs which ties him for sixth place on the App State career list, despite playing just 74 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.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
App State has registered a .422 on-base percentage this season, in large part due to being hit by a lot of pitches. App State batters have been hit 82 times in 29 games, a mark that leads the Sun Belt and ranks second in the country. Individually,
Drew Holderbach has been hit by 16 pitches, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks eighth in the nation.
IT'S MILLER TIME
Kameron Miller had a weekend to remember March 28-30 against Marshall, going 6-for-13 with two home runs and seven RBIs against Marshall. The freshman hit his first career home run on Saturday, a 455-foot blast, and followed it up with a three-hit, six-RBI day on Sunday, including another home run.
LEATHERMEN
Through 26 games this season, the App State defense has committed just 26 errors in 1,008 chances for a team fielding percentage of .974, which ranks third in the Sun Belt and 68
th nationally.
SUPERB SUN BELT
App State enters the week with an RPI of 85, 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 fifth in the nation in RPI, ahead of the 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 continue its homestand with a three-game weekend series against Troy. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. with Saturday's contest slated for 3 p.m. The series concludes on Sunday with first pitch set for 1 p.m. in the finale. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
