BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball's
Caleb Cross was sensational on the mound for the Mountaineers on Friday night, as the redshirt senior allowed no hits while tossing seven scoreless innings against Old Dominion in a 9-4 victory.
Cross finished his night with a strikeout on his 112th pitch to end the seventh inning – capping a career-high in innings pitched. He retired the final 13 batters he faced in the ballgame and yielded just three baserunners - all on walks.
"I just trusted the process, trusted the pitch plan and went straight at them," Cross said. "I let them hit the ball and let the defense work behind me."
ODU broke up the no-hit bid on an infield single to a sliding shortstop deep in the hole with nobody out in the eighth, after Cross had given way to
Jordan Fisher. It was App State's longest flirtation with a no-hitter since 2021, when
Tyler Tuthill pitched 6.2 innings of no-hit ball and ULM finally recorded its first hit with one away in the eighth inning of a 6-4 home win by the Mountaineers.
While he only recorded two strikeouts, Cross created weak contact all night long, with the Mountaineers (13-12, 4-3) recording 12 outs through the air and seven on the ground behind him.
The offense gave him some early support, plating three runs in the second inning.
Tyler Lichtenberger singled to left with one out and
Tyler Figueroa followed by working a walk. With two outs in the inning,
Charlie Evans ripped a double just inside the third base bag to plate a pair and
Joseph Zamora followed with another two-out hit to bring Evans home from second.
App State made it 4-0 in the fourth.
Dillon Moquin led off with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and came into score on a
Kameron Miller single to right-center.
With Cross in cruise control, the Mountaineers picked up some valuable insurance in the seventh. With
Braxton Church on second after a leadoff walk and a stolen base, Figueroa singled to center field to bring him home. Later in the frame,
Riley Luft singled to center to drive in Lichtenberger.
Then in the eighth, Miller then smashed a 402-foot homer off the scoreboard in right center and Lichtenberger blasted a two-run home run to left for the first of his collegiate career. It capped a career-high four hits for the freshman shortstop.
App State has now won six straight at home, where they are 12-4 on the season.
First pitch of Saturday's contest has been moved up to 2 p.m. The 2025 App State baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
