HICKORY, N.C. — Juan Correa's second homer of the day and fourth homer in three appearances this season at LP Frans Stadium broke a fourth-inning tie, helping carry App State Baseball to a 7-5 victory against UMass Lowell on Saturday.
Following a 1-0 win in Friday's series opener, the Mountaineers (3-3) will attempt to secure a three-game sweep when they face the River Hawks (2-3) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Correa went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, outfielder Tyler Luft had a 3-for-4 day with two runs scored in his first start and shortstop
Tyler Lichtenberger batted 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. The bullpen of
Bradley Wilson (win, 1-0),
Reyn Watson,
Cal Clark and
Liam Best (first save) combined to allow one run and one hit over the final six innings in relief of
Caleb Marks, who held UMass Lowell scoreless before running into trouble in the third.
Correa's 411-foot solo homer to center in the first inning contributed to a 3-0 lead before UMass Lowell posted four runs on three hits in the top of the third, but App State moved ahead for good with a four-run bottom of the fourth.
After Lichtenberger's one-out RBI single off the glove of a sliding center fielder with two on tied the game, runners stayed at the corners on a flyout to shallow right. Correa stepped in and gave the Mountaineers a 7-4 lead by pulling the first pitch over the wall in the left field corner thanks to an exit velocity of 112 mph off the bat.
Wilson had pitched scoreless fourth and fifth innings before UMass Lowell encountered its best chance to rally again in the sixth. After he retired the first two batters, the next three reached against Wilson on full-count pitches that resulted in a walk, hit by pitch and walk.
Watson took over the mound and issued a run-scoring walk on another 3-2 offering before stranding the bases loaded with a 3-2 pitch that resulted in a check-swing groundout to second.
Clark retired the side in order in the seventh and needed only six pitches to retire the side in the eighth, with help from a 5-4-3 double play to erase a leadoff single. Best threw a perfect ninth, striking out one batter and hitting 95 mph on the stadium radar gun.
After Correa's first-inning homer — he also homered twice in a season-opening loss to Queens in LP Frans Stadium, before the rest of the series moved to Lenoir-Rhyne — the multi-run second and fourth innings provided the rest of the offense.
Lichtenberger's RBI single with two on in the second inning brought home
Xavier Lopez, who had singled and swiped second base earlier in the frame.
Braxton Church added a sacrifice fly to score Luft, who had followed Lopez's steal with an infield hit.
In the fourth,
Joseph Zamora's leadoff single and Luft's one-out double chased starting pitcher Brendan Holland. Lichtenberger tied the game in the next at-bat, and Correa delivered the decisive blow shortly thereafter.
The 2025 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
