BOONE, N.C. – For the first time in the regular season App State and Southern Miss will square off on the diamond. The Mountaineers are just one game behind the 22
nd-ranked Golden Eagles who enter the matchup in a tie with Troy for second place in the Sun Belt standings. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. with the middle game of the series schedule for 3 p.m. on Saturday. The series concludes on Sunday, with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. in the finale. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Fans who download the App State Athletics mobile app will receive a T-shirt upon entry to Friday's game (while supplies last). Saturday, we are celebrating National Pretzel Day with Auntie Anne's pretzels available for purchase at the concessions stand. Sunday, is Mountaineer Readers Day, and all participants can call the App State ticket office at 828-262-7733 to redeem their free ticket.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State enters the series 21-19 on the season and 11-7 in Sun Belt play, just two games back of first place and a game out of second place in the Sun Belt standings. App State dropped its midweek contest to ETSU 13-6 on Tuesday but is coming off a series win over James Madison. The Mountaineers have won each of their last four conference series, and five of its six overall. App State leads the Sun Belt in batting average, doubles, hits, scoring and sac flies this season. Last Friday against JMU,
Caleb Cross delivered his third consecutive complete-game, including back-to-back nine-inning efforts. He has won each of his last four starts and leads the team with a 2.64 ERA, good for fifth in the Sun Belt.
Tyler Lichtenberger paces App State at the plate, batting a team-high .395 which ranks second in the Sun Belt.
Juan Correa leads App State in the power department with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs.
Kameron Miller joins the duo as another Mountaineer who owns an OPS above 1.000.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Ranked 22
nd in the country by D1Baseball.com, Southern Miss enters the series 28-13 on the season and 12-6 in Sun Belt play. The preseason conference favorite has posted eight consecutive 40-win seasons (the longest active streak in college baseball), making the NCAA tournament in each of those eight years. The Golden Eagles have won the Sun Belt tournament in each of their first two years in the conference. Southern Miss has won five of six Sun Belt series this season and are coming off a midweek victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday. Nick Monistere leads the Southern Miss offense with a .333 average, while pacing the Sun Belt in home runs (15) and RBIs (50). On the mound the Golden Eagles are led by reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week JB Middleton who is 7-1 on the season with a league-leading 2.05 ERA.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Southern Miss have squared off each of the last two years in the Sun Belt tournament semifinals – the only meetings between the two programs. In 2023, App State staved off elimination with a 4-2 win, before falling 11-1 in a winner-take-all contest. Last year, the Golden Eagles won 7-5 after the teams waited out a half-day rain delay in the middle of the contest. App State stranded the tying run on base in the ninth.
UNTOUCHABLE
Redshirt senior
Caleb Cross has been lights out on the mound in his last four starts. In consecutive outings, Cross has thrown seven no-hit innings against Old Dominion, an eight-inning complete game against ULM, a nine-inning shutout at Marshall and a nine-inning complete game vs James Madison. His ERA is 0.82 over his last four outings, allowing just three earned runs in 33 innings. He has struck out 20 batters while allowing just 30 combined walks and hits over that span. Cross has lowered his ERA to 2.64 which ranks fifth in the Sun Belt. He also ranks among league leaders in innings pitched (2
nd – 61.1), wins (T-3
rd – 6) and opponent's batting average (T-9
th - .219).
Cross was named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week on April 15 following his complete game shutout against Marshall on April 11. Cross joins
Caleb Marks (March 8 vs. College of Charleston) as Mountaineer pitchers who have thrown a nine-inning, complete-game shutout this season. It marks the first time since Sam Agnew-Wieland threw two complete-game shutouts for App State in 2013 that the Mountaineers have achieved the feat twice in the same year. The duo joins Northwestern State's Trent Hillen and Dylan Marionneaux as the only pair of teammates in college baseball this season to have thrown nine-inning, complete-game shutouts. Cross is one of two pitchers in the nation with two nine-inning complete games and one of three pitchers with at least three complete games overall.
LICHTENBERGER LEADS THE WAY
Freshman shortstop
Tyler Lichtenberger was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List last Friday, a year-end honor presented to the top shortstop in college baseball. He joins Ryne Farber (TXST) as the only Sun Belt players to be named to the Watch List and he is the first Mountaineer to make the coveted list since Will Callaway in 2013.
Lichtenberger was inserted into the starting lineup the second game of the season and hasn't looked back, reaching base safely in 38 of 39 games played on the campaign, including hits in 32 of those contests. Lichtenberger ranks among Sun Belt leaders in batting (2
nd - .395), hits (2
nd – 58), OBP (7
th - .468) and doubles (T-6
th – 12). His .395 average ranks 46
th nationally and fourth among freshmen.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Through 40 games this season, the App State offense has registered 89 doubles which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 28th nationally.
Braxton Church,
Tyler Lichtenberger and
Tyler Figueroa lead the charge with a dozen double apiece. The record for doubles in a season is 168, set in 2007. Individually, David Rubinstein owns the program record with 30 doubles in 2007.
BULLPEN BRAD
After serving as the Mountaineers' Friday night starter last season,
Bradley Wilson has found lots of success coming out of the App State bullpen in 2025. On March 29 against Old Dominion, Wilson threw a career-high 7.0 scoreless innings to earn the win in relief. He allowed just three base runners – all singles – and retired the final 17 batters of the ballgame. Wilson has thrown at least five innings in relief in four different outings this season. On April 17 against James Madison he earned the win by going 6.1 innings in relief and allowing just two earned runs, while striking out seven. The graduate student has allowed two earned run or fewer in 14 of his 19 outings this season. He boasts a 4.02 ERA and has struck out 39 batters in 47.0 innings of work this season, with opponents hitting just .225 against him. He has also allowed just one home run this season.
KAM GOES BAM
App State sophomore
Kameron Miller has been on a tear at the plate, reaching base safely in 26 of his last 27 games, including an 11-game hitting streak during that stretch. Miller has belted nine home runs this season including a 471-foot missile against Western Carolina on April 8, the longest measured for an App State player in the TrackMan Era (since 2019). Miller ranks among Sun Belt leaders in OPS (4
th – 1.122), on-base (5
th - .494), RBIs (T-5
th – 40), walks (T-6
th – 31), average (7
th - .347), slugging (9
th - .628) and home runs (T-9
th – 9). Miller has transformed himself into a complete hitter in 2025, working a team-leading 31 times this season after not walking once as a freshman.
JUAN GONE
App State first baseman
Juan Correa hit his 12th home run of the season on Tuesday against ETSU, snapping a 10-game homerless drought. Correa has driven in eight runs in his last four games and ranks among league leaders in RBIs (3
rd – 46), home runs (6
th – 12), slugging (7
th - .648) and OPS (10
th – 1.035). 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, something he has done three times this season (against Queens, UMass Lowell and Wake Forest). Correa has hit safely in 29 of 34 games this season (in which he has recorded an official at-bat) including a ten-game hitting streak during that span.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
App State has hit 27 sacrifice flies this season which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 6th in the country. Eleven different players have hit at least one sac fly, with
Braxton Church's seven sac flies 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 March 15 to earn the win against Texas State and followed with two more strikeouts in the ninth inning the following day to secure the save. Fisher's five saves this season rank tied for sixth in the Sun Belt and one away from the top-10 in App State single-season history. He has struck out 31 batters in 21.1 innings good for a 13.1 K/9 rate. Fisher's 19 appearances this season are tied for the team lead and tied for third-most in the conference.
FANTASTIC FIG
Sophomore
Tyler Figueroa has been a valuable addition, joining the Mountaineers this season as a transfer from Siena. Was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on April 8 after hitting three home runs and driving in 10 runs in four games the previous week against Western Carolina and ULM. Figueroa is the only Mountaineer to start all 40 games this season, appearing in games at second base, third base, left field and center field. Figueroa recorded a 19-game on-base streak from March 7 to April 6. He ranks second on the team with 30 walks, contributing to a .921 OPS on the season. He also paces the Mountaineers' running game, swiping seven bags in eight tries.
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 March 15 and hit a game-tying double in the ninth inning on March 25 to force extra-innings against High Point. Through 38 games played this season Zamora is batting .336 with 30 RBIs and 32 runs scored. Zamora has struck out just 15 times in 182 plate appearances this season, making him the fifth-toughest player to strike out in the Sun Belt. He also made No. 2 on SportsCenter's Top-10 countdown for his diving catch in foul territory on which he covered 109 feet in the April 11 win over Marshall.
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 4.6. App State has walked four batters or fewer 22 times through 40 games, including two walk-free games.
SUPERB SUN BELT
The Sun Belt continues to be one of the top conferences in college baseball. Troy, Coastal Carolina and Southern Miss are all ranked in this week's D1Baseball top-25, while five Sun Belt schools rank in the top-100 nationally in RPI. Last year the league finished with nine teams in the top-100, with four making the NCAA Tournament.
UP NEXT
App State will travel to Shelby, N.C. on Tuesday to face Wake Forest to round out their season series with the Demon Deacons. First pitch from Keeter Stadium, home of the American Legion World Series, is set for 6 p.m.
