BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball will open its 2025 conference season with a three-game series against Texas State in Boone. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. with Saturday's contest 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+.
In celebration of Pi Day on Friday, we will be selling pizza by the slice at Smith Stadium. Fans can also purchase Pi Day tickets for $3.14 by using
this link and the promo code: PIDAY (expires midnight Thursday). Saturday is youth day and kids 12 and under will receive free admission. Sunday we are celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a green bead giveaway.
Bodenheimer Drive is now open, while the Fieds Way cuthrough from Poplar Grove Road is now closed for repair, so take Bodenheimer from Rivers Street to the parking areas near the stadium.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State enters Sun Belt 8-8 on the season, following a dramatic last-at bat win over the Charlotte 49es on Tuesday. Despite being no-hit through five innings, App State took the lead with a four-run eighth, highlighted by a go-ahead two-run home run from
Juan Correa against his former team. It marked the first time all season that App State won a contest when trailing after four innings or later. Correa leads the offensive attack for the Mountaineers, batting .329 on the season with a team-best eight home runs and 22 RBIs.
Bradley Wilson has impressed out of the bullpen for App State this season, posting a 2.00 ERA in nine appearances. Reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week
Caleb Marks will start Saturday's game for App State.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Texas State enters conference play 8-8 on the season, following a midweek setback against TCU on Tuesday. Texas State has posted two wins this season over power four programs, beating No. 19 Oklahoma State on Feb. 18 and taking a game in a three-game series from Illinois the following weekend, before a win over No. 1 Texas A&M on Feb. 25. Texas State dropped their series at Campbell last weekend. Offensively the Bobcats are led by Ryne Farber, who led the team in batting last season, and is currently hitting .305 with a home run and nine runs driven in. Saturday starter Alex Valentin is coming off back-to-back quality starts against Campbell and Grand Canyon. The Bobcats lead the Sun Belt in fielding percentage, committing just six errors in their first 16 games.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Texas State have met 22 times in a head-to-head series that started when App State joined the Sun Belt in 2015. The Bobcats lead the all-time series 19-3, including a series win last season where the Bobcats took two of three games in San Marcos. App State notably earned its first Sun Belt Tournament victory against Texas State, winning 1-0 in pool play in 2021.
MARKS THROWS A MADDUX
Senior right-handed pitcher
Caleb Marks was named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday after turning in a gem in his fourth start of the 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 D-I 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 hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth inning to lift App State to a 5-4 victory over Charlotte on Tuesday. The senior has slugged eight home runs through his first 16 games, including a trio of two-homer games – against Queens, UMass Lowell and Wake Forest. Correa ranks among conference leaders in home runs (T-1st – 8), RBIs (T-2
nd – 22), slugging (4
th - .729), hits (T-5
th – 23), and runs scored (T-6
th – 19). 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 14 of 16 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 nine outings this season. On Friday at College of Charleston, Wilson threw the final five innings of the ballgame, conceding just one run, and followed that up with two scoreless innings on Tuesday against the 49ers. He boasts a 2.00 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 18 innings of work this season, with opponents hitting .235 against him.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
App State catcher
Braxton Church has stormed out of the gate this season, tallying seven doubles in his first 16 games. The seven doubles for Church match his career high from 2024 when he doubled seven times in 46 games. The seven doubles are tied for fifth-most in the Sun Belt this season and tied for 56th nationally. App State as a team has hit 40 doubles this season which ranks 22
nd nationally. Tyler Figuroa and
John Kramer each have registered six doubles.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
App State has hit 12 sacrifice flies this season which ranks second in the Sun Belt and 17
th in the country. Seven different players have hit at least one sac fly, with
Braxton Church's four 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 played this season Zamora is batting .345 with 12 RBIs and 14 runs scored. Zamora ranked 12
th in the Sun Belt last season, batting .371 in conference play.
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 a win and two saves and through eight outings, with scoreless outings in five appearances. Best has struck out 10 while walking just four and is holding opponents to a .243 batting average.
MOQUIN LEADS OFF
Redshirt sophomore
Dillon Moquin was elevated to the leadoff spot in the lineup on Tuesday for the Mountaineers. Moquin reached base all four times up, drawing two walks and getting hit by two pitches. The Coral Springs, Fla. native leads the team in batting at .394 and is reaching base at a .592 clip this season. He has drawn nine walks on the year while striking out just seven times.
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 4.76. App State has walked four batters or fewer ten times through 16 games, including just two free passes on Tuesday against the 49ers.
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 .357 (20-for-56) with 13 RBIs and 15 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.
RETURN OF THE ZACH
Redshirt junior
Zach Lewis has tossed a scoreless inning in each of the Mountaineers last two midweek contests – his first two outings of the season. 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.
1-0 SHUTOUT
App State's 1-0 shutout win over UMass Lowell on Feb. 21 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 travel to Charlotte for a rematch with the 49ers to round out the 2025 home-and-home series. First pitch from Hayes Stadium is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
