BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball looks to extend its four-game winning streak as the team travels to the Queen City to face Charlotte in the second matchup in the home-and-home series. First pitch from Hayes Stadium is set for 6 p.m. and the contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State enters the contest 11-8 on the season and 3-0 in Sun Belt play following a sweep of Texas State. App State Outscored the Bobcats 33-19, producing a run-rule win on Friday night and followed that up with a walk-off victory on Saturday. App State took advantage of a lot of free bases in the series, drawing 25 walks and 13 hit by pitch in three games. On the mound
Caleb Cross and
Everette Harris each worked into the sixth inning, while
Liam Best and
Jordan Fisher combined to strike out nine batters at the back end of the bullpen.
Tyler Lichtenberger leads the offense with a .403 batting average, while
Juan Correa paces App State in the power department with nine home runs and 23 RBIs.
SCOUTING THE 49ERS
Charlotte enters Tuesday's matchup 9-9 on the season after dropping two of three to UNCW in their final non-conference series of the season. Charlotte's pitching staff leads the way this season, posting 11 games of double-digit strikeouts, including a season-high 18 last Wednesday against Davidson. The team owns a 4.55 ERA and a .245 opponents' batting average. Offensively, Cody Gunderson leads the 49ers with a .396 batting average and three home runs and 13 RBIs in 16 games. 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 30
th time in a head-to-head series that dates back to 1980. The 49ers lead the series 17-11-1, but App State won the first meeting this season last Tuesday in a 5-4 thriller. After being no-hit through five innings, App State put together a four-run eighth inning, highlighted by a go-ahead two-run home run from
Juan Correa against his former team.
JUAN GONE
App State first baseman
Juan Correa hit his ninth home run of the season in Friday's 15-4 victory over Texas State. The senior has slugged nine home runs through his first 18 games, including a trio of two-homer games – against Queens, UMass Lowell and Wake Forest. Correa ranks among conference leaders in home runs (1st – 9), RBIs (T-3
rd – 23), slugging (4
th - .743), OPS (9
th – 1.138) and runs scored (10
th – 20). 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 15 of 17 games this season (in which he has recorded an official at-bat) including a ten-game hitting streak.
MOQUIN ABOARD
Redshirt sophomore
Dillon Moquin has been a superb table-setter for the Mountaineers since being elevated to the leadoff spot on March 8 against the College of Charleston. In six games as the leadoff hitter, Moquin has reached base 19 times (5 H, 6 BB, 8 HBP) and has now reached base safely in 15 consecutive games. Moquin is slashing .366/.591/.512/1.103 this season. His .591 on-base ranks third in the Sun Belt and ninth nationally, while his 12 HBP lead the league and are sixth most in the nation.
LICHTENBERGER LEADS THE WAY
Freshman shortstop
Tyler Lichtenberger was inserted into the starting lineup the second game of the season and hasn't looked back, reaching base safely in all 18 games on the campaign. Lichtenberger is batting .403 with leads the team and ranks sixth in the Sun Belt, while he also ranks among league leaders in hits (T-9
th – 25), OBP (10
th - .487) and sac flies (T-5
th – 3).
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 nine of his ten 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 3.00 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 21 innings of work this season, with opponents hitting .244 against him.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Through 19 games this season, the App State offense has registered 46 doubles which ranks second in the Sun Belt and 23
rd nationally.
Braxton Church has already hit a career-high eight doubles this season, the fourth-most in the Sun Belt, while
Tyler Figueroa and
John Kramer have each added six doubles apiece.
PATIENCE PAYS
After not working a single walk in 48 at-bats last season,
Kameron Miller has transformed himself into a very patient hitter in 2025. Miller has walked 15 times this season and 11 times in his last four games played, including a career-high four walks against Gardner-Webb on Feb. 28. As a team, App State has walked 99 times this season, which ranks fourth in the Sun Belt.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
App State has hit 16 sacrifice flies this season which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 7
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.
GONE FISHING
Redshirt junior
Jordan Fisher has acceded from a walk-on in 2022 to a high-leverage reliever this season. Fisher struck out the side with the bases loaded in the 11
th inning on Saturday to earn the win against Texas State and followed with two more strikeouts in the ninth inning on Sunday to secure the save. Fisher's four saves this season lead the Sun Belt and rank 14
th nationally.
SOME ZA DELIVERY
Senior second baseman
Joseph Zamora helped the Mountaineers secure their first series win against Texas State with a walk-off single in the 11
th inning on Saturday. Through 16 games played this season Zamora is batting .329 with 16 RBIs and 17 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 nine outings, allowing one run or fewer in eight of nine appearances. Best helped the Mountaineers through extra-innings on Saturday, registering career-highs in innings pitched (3.0) and strikeouts (4), including striking out the side in the tenth inning. Best has struck out 14 batters in 12.2 innings this season.
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 4.06. App State has walked four batters or fewer ten times through 16 games, including just two free passes last Tuesday against the 49ers.
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 Statesboro for a three-game weekend series with Georgia Southern, Friday through Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
