BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball begins a four-game homestand on Tuesday with a mid-week matchup against the Charlotte 49ers. The meeting is the first of a home-and-home series that will see App State make the return trip to Charlotte next Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+
Please note, due to construction, Bodenheimer Drive is currently closed between Rivers Street and Fieds Way. Fans traveling to Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium from Rivers Street must continue to Poplar Grove Road and use Fieds Way to connect to Bodenheimer Drive beyond the closure point. This route will provide access to the Greenwood Parking Lot (complimentary parking with shuttle service) and Smith Stadium Lot (VIP/Reserved single-game parking).
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State enters the contest 7-8 on the season after dropping their weekend series to the College of Charleston. App State won the middle game behind a complete game shutout from
Caleb Marks and a season-high 21 hits from the offense.
Juan Correa leads the offensive attack for the Mountaineers, batting .333 on the season with a team-best seven home runs and 20 RBIs.
Bradley Wilson has impressed out of the bullpen for App State this season, posting a 2.25 ERA in eight appearances.
SCOUTING THE 49ERS
Charlotte enters Tuesday's matchup 7-6 on the season after sweeping their weekend series from James Madison. The series was highlighted by no-hitter on Friday night from 49ers junior right-hander Blake Gillespie that featured 11 strikeouts. Cody Gunderson leads the offense this season with a 1.085 OPS, five extra-base hits and nine RBIs through 11 games. Joseph Taylor has posted a 3.38 ERA in six relief outings for the 49ers. After a .500 campaign a season ago, the 49ers were picked fifth in the AAC this year with outfielder Carson Bayne earning preseason all-conference honors.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Charlotte will meet for the 29
th time in a head-to-head series that dates back to 1980. The 49ers lead the series 17-10-1, and most recently took two of three games from the Mountaineers in 2022. App State was able to salvage the finale in 12 innings after Luke Drumheller tied the score with App State down to its final out in the ninth inning. Andrew Greckel came through with the go-ahead hit in the top of the 12
th inning, giving App State its first lead since the top of the first inning.
MARKS THROWS A MADDUX
Senior right-handed pitcher
Caleb Marks turned in a gem in his fourth start of the season for App State on Saturday against the College of Charleston. Marks delivered a nine-inning shutout, holding the Cougars to just five base runners, while striking out four and doing so in just 95 pitches. The complete game shutout for the Mountaineers was the first since 2019 when
Tyler Tuthill delivered a complete game shutout in a 4-0 win over UT Arlington. Marks becomes just the second pitcher in DI baseball this season to accomplish the feat on fewer than 100 pitches this season, joining Portland's Ryan Rembisz, who did so via a perfect game against Seattle U on Feb. 25.
JUAN GONE
App State first baseman
Juan Correa has slugged seven home runs through his first 15 games, including a trio of two-homer games – against Queens, UMass Lowell and Wake Forest. Correa also ranks among conference leaders in home runs (2
nd – 7), RBIs (6
th – 20), slugging (6
th - .712), hits (6
th – 22), and runs scored (8
th – 18). Last season with the Charlotte 49ers, Correa finished the campaign with 12 home runs in 55 games played but never homered twice in the same contest. His 12 home runs were second on the 49ers and tied for 10
th in the conference. Correa has hit safely in 13 of 15 games this season including a ten-game hitting streak.
BULLPEN BRAD
After serving as the Mountaineers' Friday night starter last season,
Bradley Wilson has found success coming out of the App State bullpen in 2025. The graduate student has allowed one earned run or fewer in all eight outings this season. On Friday at College of Charleston, Wilson threw the final five innings of the ballgame, conceding just one run. He boasts a 2.25 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 16 innings of work this season.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
App State catcher
Braxton Church has stormed out of the gate this season, tallying seven doubles in his first 15 games. The seven doubles for Church match his career high from 2024 when he doubled seven times in 46 games. The seven doubles are fourth-most in the Sun Belt this season and tied for 49th nationally. App State as a team has hit 37 doubles this season which ranks 27
th nationally.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
App State has hit 11 sacrifice flies this season which ranks second in the Sun Belt and 18
th in the country. Seven different players have hit at least one sac fly, with
Braxton Church's three leading the team. For comparison, App State finished 2024 with 25 sacrifice flies.
SOME ZA DELIVERY
Senior second baseman
Joseph Zamora jumpstarted the Mountaineers' comeback effort on Feb. 23, belting a grand slam as part of a seven-run home fifth to take the lead. Through 13 games this season Zamora is batting .333 with 12 RBIs and 13 runs scored. Zamora ranked 12
th in the Sun Belt last season, batting .371 in conference play.
RETURN OF THE ZACH
Redshirt junior
Zach Lewis made his season debut with a scoreless inning against Wake Forest (his former team) on Tuesday. Lewis served as the Mountaineers' closer last season, leading the team with four saves. App State has a stable of late-inning relievers this season with
Jordan Fisher having already recorded three saves and
Liam Best recording two more.
STRIKE THROWERS
App State's pitching staff has opened the 2025 season by consistently throwing strikes and getting ahead in counts. After issuing over six walks-per-nine innings in 2023, the Mountaineers trimmed that number to 5.4 walks-per-nine in 2024. So far in 2025, App State's walks-per-nine has dropped to 4.9. App State has walked four batters or fewer nine times through 15 games.
FRESHMEN SUCCESS
App State freshmen
Tyler Lichtenberger and
Riley Luft have impressed at the plate in early-season action to begin their collegiate careers. Lichtenberger is batting .358 (19-for-52) with 13 RBIs and 14 runs scored, while Luft also boasts a .278 average (10-for-36), with a pair of doubles and a triple in his first 12 games. Luft was named the second-best freshman prospect in the Sun Belt by Perfect Game, and the No. 255 freshman in the nation.
BEST OF THE BEST
Redshirt junior
Liam Best has been a valuable addition to the App State bullpen this season. The transfer from State College of Florida has recorded two saves and through seven outings, with scoreless outings in five appearances. Best has struck out eight while walking just three and is holding opponents to a .233 batting average.
1-0 SHUTOUT
App State's 1-0 shutout win over UMass Lowell on Friday marked the first 1-0 shutout for the Mountaineers since May 25, 2021, when App State earned the program's first Sun Belt Tournament victory with a 1-0 shutout over Texas State. The only other shutouts since then were a 10-0 win at ULM on April 23, 2022, and App State's 11-0 takedown of No. 7/8 Coastal Carolina on May 5, 2023. The 1-0 shutout marked just the seventh of its kind since the Mountaineers joined the Division I ranks. Most notably, App State defeated No. 7 LSU 1-0 in 2012 as part of a series win in Baton Rouge, La.
SUPERB SUN BELT
The Sun Belt continues to be one of the top conferences in college baseball, ranking fifth in the nation in RPI in each of the past two seasons. Last year nine Sun Belt programs finished in the top-100 nationally in RPI with four teams making the NCAA tournament. Currently, six Sun Belt teams are ranked in the top-100, with Troy, Southern Miss and Coastal Carolina all ranked in the Top-25.
UP NEXT
App State will begin Sun Belt play with a three-game series against Texas State. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. with the middle game on Saturday slated for 3 p.m. The series wraps up on Sunday with first pitch set for 1 p.m. in the finale. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
