BOONE, N.C. – The Mountaineers take aim at their fourth consecutive Sun Belt Series win this weekend, as the team heads to Norfolk, Va. for a three-game series against Old Dominion. App State and ODU are among seven teams in the middle of the Sun Belt standings that are separated by just three wins. First pitch on Friday is set for 2 p.m. with game two on Saturday 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+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State enters the weekend 28-16-1 on the season and 13-10-1 in Sun Belt play and in fifth place in the conference standings. App State sits at 72nd in the nation in RPI, just one spot behind ODU and two spots behind Georgia Southern, their final two regular season opponents.
App State is coming off a series win over South Alabama, sweeping a doubleheader from the Jags on Sunday.
Dante Chirico was terrific in game one, tossing a career-high seven innings and combining with
Cody Little on a one-hitter.
Banks Tolley belted three home runs across the two games and joined
Drew Holderbach with a four-hit effort in game two, in a 13-1 run-rule win. App State is 7-1-1 in their last three Sun Belt series and has scored double-digit runs in seven of the nine games.
SCOUTING THE MONARCHS
Old Dominion enters the weekend set with a record of 26-21 on the season and 12-12 in Sun Belt play, currently in seventh place in the league standings. The Monarchs lost their series at Texas State last weekend, but rebounded for a 14-8 mid-week win over VCU. In conference play this season, ODU has collected series wins over Georgia Southern, South Alabama, JMU, Marshall and ULM. The Monarchs are led at the plate by Luke Waters who is batting .316 with nine home runs and 18 stolen bases. The Monarchs are active on the bases as a team and have swiped 74 this season which ranks second in the league. ODU is led by a pitching staff that boasts a 4.43 ERA, the second-best in the Sun Belt, complimented by a league-best 1.30 WHIP and 2.78 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Jacob Gomez is among Sun Belt leaders with seven saves and boasts a 2.59 ERA in the back end of the bullpen.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Old Dominion have met eight times in program history, with the Monarchs leading the all-time series 6-2. In their first meeting as Sun Belt members last season, App State took two of three in the series, including an 18-8 win in the finale in which
CJ Boyd hit a walk-off single to initiate a run-rule win.
INSTANT OFFENSE
The Mountaineers offense has been impressive this season, and has scored double-digit runs in 20 games this year, including in eight of their last 11 contests. Overall, the Mountaineers are averaging 9.4 runs-per-game which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 10th in the nation. The App State offense leads the Sun Belt in batting average (.305), home runs (83) and slugging percentage (.530). The team also ranks second in on-base percentage (.425), third in triples (11) and fourth in walks (242).
BOMBS AWAY
App State has hit 83 home runs through 45 games this season, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 30th 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 23 multi-homer games, including eight three-homer games, four four-homer games, and a pair of five-homer efforts.
ONE-HIT WONDER
In game one of the Mountaineers doubleheader on Sunday,
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.
TAKE IT TO THE BANKS
Banks Tolley smashed three more home runs across Sunday's doubleheader increasing his record total to 21 on the season. Entering the week Tolley was one of just four players in the nation batting at least .385 with 21 home runs or more this season. The Ole Miss transfer has hit safely in 38 of 45 games, including 23 multi-hit efforts. Tolley leads the Sun Belt in home runs, slugging (.775), OPS (1.262) and total bases (145), and ranks third in RBIs (62), tied for third in hits (72) and forth in runs scored (59). 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.
ALL SAINTS DAY
Redshirt junior
Austin St. Laurent has been red hot at the plate as of late, hitting safely in 22 of his last 26 games. Over that span he has gone 50-for-116 (.431), with seven home runs, 30 RBIs and 42 runs scored. St. Laurent has slugged 12 home runs this season, 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 ranks tied for first in the Sun Belt in hits (74) and triples (4), third in runs scored (65), sixth in batting (.372), tied for sixth in RBIs (51), seventh in slugging (.633) and ninth in OPS (1.072).
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 .500 clip this season which is tied for fourth in the Sun Belt. He has totaled 59 hits, 35 walks and 17 hit by pitch compared to just 29 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 (17), sixth in OPS (1.089), seventh in runs (56) and seventh in walks (35).
X MARKS THE SPOT
After being in-and-out of the lineup this season due to injury,
Xavier Moronta has found his groove. The senior blasted a grand slam on April 28 to help the Mountaineers sweep Georgia State, as part of a career-high six-RBI effort. Over the course of his last nine games played, Moronta has tallied 16 hits and 21 RBIs. The Mountaineers hope Moronta can regain his 2023 form down the stretch. The Miramar, Fla. native Moronta started all 55 games for the Black & Gold last season, slashing .339/.444/.459 and reached base safely in 47 of 55 games.
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 11 starts this season, going 5-2 with a 4.17 ERA. Steensma has struck out 56 batters in 54 innings of work, including 21 looking strikeouts which ranks third in the Sun Belt. Steensma has held opponents to a .227 average this season which ranks fourth in the conference. Steensma registered a career-high ten strikeouts in a win over Troy on April 13 and has combined for 20 strikeouts and just two walks across his last three starts. The sophomore also took a no hitter into the fifth inning against Marshall on March 30.
IT'S MILLER TIME
A late addition to the Mountaineers lineup against Wake Forest on Tuesday,
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 .625 on the year.
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 45 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 86 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 most wins in the Sun Belt this season. Over LaSpaluto's last 11 outings he has struck out 23 batters in 17.0 innings of work. The Mountaineers are 13-4-1 in games in which LaSpaluto pitches. He has struck out a career-high five batters three times this season, including in Sunday's victory at Georgia State.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
App State has registered a .425 on-base percentage this season, in large part due to being hit by a lot of pitches. App State batters have been hit 107 times in 45 games, a mark that leads the Sun Belt and ranks fourth in the country. Individually,
Drew Holderbach has been hit by 17 pitches, which ranks third in the Sun Belt.
LEATHERMEN
Through 45 games this season, the App State defense has committed just 42 errors in 1,569 chances for a team fielding percentage of .973, which ranks fifth in the Sun Belt and 84th 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.
SUPERB SUN BELT
App State enters the week with an RPI of 72, sitting as one of 10 Sun Belt teams inside the top-105 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
UP NEXT
App State will conclude regular season play by hosting Georgia Southern in a three-game series as it aims to secure a top-six seed and a first-round bye in the Conference Tournament in Montgomery, Ala. First pitch on Thursday and Friday are set for 6 p.m. with the regular season finale slated for 1 p.m. on Saturday.
