BOONE, N.C. –
Banks Tolley blasted his 25th home run of the season to cap a four-homer series, but the Mountaineers struggled to string hits together in a 9-5 loss to Georgia Southern in the season finale at Smith Stadium.
The Mountaineers (31-19-1, 16-13-1) will await the conclusion of Sun Belt play on Saturday when the conference tournament bracket is revealed. App State will open play in the double-elimination portion of the tournament on Wednesday in Montgomery, Ala. by virtue of earning a top-six seed with their series-opening win on Thursday.
Tolley's home run came in the first inning, a two-run blast to open the scoring, plating
Austin St. Laurent who led off the inning with a walk.
Georgia Southern (30-25, 17-13) tied the score on a two-run home run from Sean White in the second inning, and the Mountaineers never led thereafter.
After falling behind 3-2 in the third, App State tied the game in the home half of the inning on a
CJ Boyd RBI double to right-center to score Tolley, who reached on a walk one batter prior.
The Eagles regained the lead with a two-run homer from Jonathan Jaime in the sixth and tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
App State responded with a pair of runs in the eighth inning.
Hunter Wilder and
Joseph Zamora notched back-to-back two out singles, and St. Laurent capitalized with a single to center to plate Wilder. Zamora came across on a wild pitch later in the frame.
Zach Lewis finished the game with 1.2 scoreless innings for the Mountaineers, striking out three in his final regular season appearance.
Tolley's home run moved him into seventh place in the country, and marked the 91st home run by the Mountaineers as a team this season, the most in a season in program history, eclipsing the mark of 90 set by the 1986 squad.
The 2024 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
