BOONE, N.C. – App State will look to secure a top-six seed and a bye into the double-elimination portion of next week's Sun Belt tournament as they close the regular season with a three-game set against the Georgia Southern Eagles at Smith Stadium. The teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday beginning at 2 p.m. before wrapping up the series with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State enters the weekend 30-17-1 on the season and 15-11-1 in Sun Belt play and in fourth place in the conference standings. App State has won four consecutive Sun Belt series for the first time since joining the conference in 2015, and sits at 62nd in the nation in RPI. App State is coming off a series win over Old Dominion, with
Jackson Steensma and
Dante Chirico both delivering quality starts without walking a batter to help the Mountaineers win each of the first two games of the series.
Hunter Wilder also hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the tenth inning in the game two win. The Mountaineers have gone 9-2-1 in their last 12 games.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Georgia Southern enters the series 28-24 on the season and 15-12 in Sun Belt play, tied with JMU for fifth place in the Sun Belt standings. The Eagles are coming off a midweek win against Jacksonville on Tuesday after being swept at home by No. 22 Louisiana last weekend. The season has been highlighted by a non-conference win over No. 21 Campbell and No. 22 South Carolina and Sun Belt series wins over Southern Miss, Arkansas State, Georgia State, Marshall and ULM. Georgia Southern is led at the plate by Josh Tate who is batting .360 with 23 stolen bases on the campaign which is tied for third in the Sun Belt. JD Kaiser leads the squad with nine home runs and 41 RBIs. On the mound the Eagles are led by Ty Fisher who has struck out 58 batters in 71 innings, racking up six wins in 14 starts. The Eagles rank 73rd nationally in RPI.
SERIES HISTORY
Longtime opponents in both the Sun Belt and the Southern Conferences, App State and Georgia Southern have faced off 103 times in program history, with the Eagles holding a 78-25 lead. The Mountaineers won one of three games last year in Statesboro, but the victory marked the 600th career win for head coach
Kermit Smith. App State aims for its first series win against the Eagles since 2013 when the Black and Gold took two of three in SoCon play.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
Entering the weekend, the Mountaineers can finish anywhere from second to ninth in the Sun Belt standings. One win in the series for the Mountaineers clinches a top-six seed and a berth into the double elimination portion of the Sun Belt tournament next week. Two wins clinches a top-five finish in the standings, while a sweep would guarantee the Mountaineers their best conference finish since tying for first in the SoCon in 2012.
INSTANT OFFENSE
The Mountaineers offense has been impressive this season, and has scored double-digit runs in 21 games this year, including in nine of their last 14 contests. Overall, the Mountaineers are averaging 9.2 runs-per-game which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 11th in the nation. The App State offense leads the Sun Belt in slugging percentage (.520), and ranks second in batting average (.301) and home runs (87) and third in on-base percentage (.418).
BOMBS AWAY
App State has hit 87 home runs through 48 games this season, which ranks second in the Sun Belt and ranks 31st 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 Smith Stadium 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 stadium 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 had hit more than 67 in the BBCOR bat era (2011-present) prior to this year's team.
Banks Tolley broke the record for single-season home runs with his 18th home run against Georgia State on April 26. Overall, App State has accumulated 24 multi-homer games, including eight three-homer games, four four-homer games, and a pair of five-homer efforts.
TAKE IT TO THE BANKS
Banks Tolley continues his banner season for the Mountaineers, headlined by record total and league-leading 21 home runs on the season. The Ole Miss transfer has hit safely in 41 of 48 games, including 24 multi-hit efforts. Tolley leads the Sun Belt in home runs, slugging (.754), OPS (1.240) and ranks second in the league in total bases (150), third in RBIs (65) and batting average (.382), fourth in hits (76) and runs scored (61) and fifth in on-base (.486). 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. April 26 at Georgia State, Tolley crushed his 18
th home run of the season, establishing a new single-season program record.
DANTE'S INFERNO
Senior right-hander
Dante Chirico was named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week this week, following an exceptional in his start against Old Dominion on Saturday. Chirico delivered a career-high eight innings in the Mountaineers' 4-3 win over the Monarchs, marking the longest outing by a Mountaineer pitcher this season. The Chapin, S.C. native allowed just one run, while scattering seven hits and struck out eight, without walking a batter in the outing. He did not allow a runner to advance past second base until the sixth inning and did not allow a run to score until the eighth. The performance served as an encore for Chirico, who tossed seven innings a week prior, combining with
Cody Little to one-hit South Alabama. Over his last two outings Chirico has combined to work 15 innings, allowing just two earned runs (1.20 ERA) on eight hits, while striking out 15, without allowing a walk. Chirico is holding opposing hitters to a batting average of just .233 this season, which is seventh-best in the Sun Belt. He also ranks ninth in the conference in looking strikeouts (18) and 10th in innings pitched (60.1).
ALL SAINTS DAY
Redshirt junior
Austin St. Laurent has been red hot at the plate as of late, hitting safely in 25 of his last 29 games. Over that span he has gone 56-for-133 (.421), with nine home runs, 32 RBIs and 48 runs scored. St. Laurent has slugged 14 home runs this season, more than doubling 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 began the season as the everyday third baseman, before shifting to shortstop in mid-April. He's tied for first in the Sun Belt in triples (4) and ranks second in hits (80), third in runs scored (71), tied for fifth in batting (.370), tied for sixth in OPS (1.077) and seventh in slugging (.644).
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 reached base safely in each of the Mountaineers first 43 games of the season marking the second-longest on-base streak in program history. Holderbach has reached base at a .485 clip this season which is sixth in the Sun Belt. He has totaled 62 hits, 36 walks and 17 hit by pitch compared to just 34 strikeouts. 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 tied for third in the Sun Belt in doubles (18), fifth in runs scored (60), tied for eighth in walks and tenth in OPS (1.067).
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 has made 12 starts this season, going 6-2 with a 3.90 ERA. Steensma has struck out 62 batters in 60 innings of work. His strikeout total ranks eighth in the league overall, while his 22 looking strikeouts rank fifth in the Sun Belt. Steensma has held opponents to a .236 average this season which is tied for seventh-best in the conference. Steensma registered a career-high ten strikeouts in a win over Troy on April 13 and has combined for 26 strikeouts and just one walk across his last four starts. The sophomore also took a no hitter into the fifth inning against Marshall on March 30.
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 16 times in 48 games. Boyd has now hit 33 career home runs which ties him for first place on the App State career home run list with Andre Crawford (1985-87), despite playing just 93 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. Boyd tallied a walk-off single in the Mountaineers win over ETSU on April 23, almost exactly a year following a walk-off two-run homer against JMU in the 10
th inning in 2023.
WHAT A RELIEF
Senior right-hander
Grey LaSpaluto is undefeated out of the Mountaineers bullpen this season, boasting a 7-0 record which is tied for the second-most wins in the Sun Belt this season. Over LaSpaluto's last 13 outings he has struck out 25 batters in 19.1 innings of work. The Mountaineers are 14-5-1 in games in which LaSpaluto pitches. He has struck out a career-high five batters three times this season, including in the April 28 victory at Georgia State.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
App State has registered a .418 on-base percentage this season, in large part due to being hit by a lot of pitches. App State batters have been hit 111 times in 48 games, a mark that leads the Sun Belt and ranks fifth in the country. Individually,
Drew Holderbach has been hit by 17 pitches, which ranks fourth in the Sun Belt.
ONE-HIT WONDER
In game one of the Mountaineers' doubleheader on May 5,
Dante Chirico and
Cody Little combined to one-hit South Alabama, combining for two streaks of 13 consecutive batters retired in the game. Despite allowing a leadoff home run to begin the ballgame, Chirico did not allow a hit thereafter in a career-high seven innings of work. South Alabama finished the game 1-for-29 at the plate. The Mountaineers have now spun a one-hitter in three consecutive seasons, with
Eli Ellington and
Caleb Cross combining to one-hit UT-Arlington in 2022 and
Xander Hamilton and
Seth Whitley combining to one-hit No. 8 Coastal Carolina in 2023.
IT'S MILLER TIME
A late addition to the Mountaineers lineup against Wake Forest on April 30,
Kameron Miller made the most of his opportunity, blasting two two-run home runs in a 10-9 loss to the 13
th-ranked Demon Deacons. Miller followed that up with an opposite-field three-run home run in Friday's game against South Alabama. In just eight starts this season Miller has showcased his power, going deep five times, hitting his first career home run against Marshall on March 29 (a 455-foot blast), and following it up with another home run as part of a career-high three-hit, six-RBI game on March 30. Miller is slugging .587 on the year.
LEATHERMEN
Through 48 games this season, the App State defense has committed just 43 errors in 1,688 chances for a team fielding percentage of .975, which ranks second in the Sun Belt and 68th nationally. App State has finished with a fielding percentage above .972 just twice in a season in program history.
National Recognition
D1Baseball.com ranked
Banks Tolley (54) and CJ Body (64) as Top-100 outfielders on their midseason rankings. Following week 12 play,
Drew Holderbach was ranked as the 37
th best first baseman in the country,
Austin St. Laurent was named the 28
th best third baseman,
Banks Tolley was named the 14
th best outfielder and
Jackson Steensma was selected as the 142nd-best starting pitcher in the country.
SUPERB SUN BELT
App State enters the week with an RPI of 62, 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.
2024 Bullets
- Series win over No. 13 Coastal Carolina was the first series win versus a top-15 opponent since the 2012 squad took two of three from No. 7 LSU in Baton Rouge
- App State has set the program record for most home runs in the BBCOR Bat era (since 2011)
- 20 runs against Arkansas State on April 19 were the most since 2019 and most ever against a Sun Belt opponent
- 12-12 tie with the Red Wolves on April 21 was just the eighth tie in program history and the first for the Mountaineers since 2010 against Western Carolina
- 2-0-1 series at Arkansas State was first unbeaten three-game Sun Belt road series since 2018 at UT Arlington
- App State has never before recorded a six-game unbeaten stretch in Sun Belt play
- Five different Mountaineers have tallied an 11-game hitting streak this season
- Five different Mountaineers have recorded a two-homer game this season
- App State has won four consecutive Sun Belt series for the first time in program history
UP NEXT
App State will embark on Sun Belt tournament play next week in Montgomery, Ala. The tournament begins with a single elimination round featuring seeds 7-10 on Tuesday, while the top-six seeds begin play in the double-elimination format on Wednesday. The championship is slated for May 26. All tournament games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
