BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball will begin play in the Sun Belt Tournament on Tuesday against Texas State at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala. First pitch between the 10th-seeded Mountaineers and seventh-seeded Bobcats is set for 4 p.m. ET. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ and an audio broadcast will be available on AppStateSports.com.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State concluded the regular season 23-30 overall and 13-17 in league play, claiming the ten seed in the Sun Belt tournament. After falling to Georgia State on Thursday and Friday, the Mountaineers won a winner-take-all game against the Panthers in the regular season finale to advance into the postseason field.
Tanner McCammon broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning with a two-run home run, his second of the season, while
Braxton Church delivered a bases-clearing double in the sixth.
Caleb Cross struck out nine batters in six innings of work to earn the win, while
Bradley Wilson recorded the final nine outs to earn his first career save. Sun Belt Freshman of the Year
Tyler Lichtenberger paces the Mountaineers at the plate with a .342 average on the season, while
Juan Correa leads the way in the power department with 16 home runs and 58 RBIs on the campaign. First team all-conference designated hitter
Kameron Miller boasts an OPS of 1.045. Right-hander
Liam Best will make the start on Tuesday for the Mountaineers.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Seventh-seeded Texas State concluded the regular season 26-29 overall and 14-16 in Sun Belt play. The Bobcats finished the year with the fourth-best RPI in the Sun Belt, posting wins against five ranked teams on the season, including defeated No. 1 Texas A&M on Feb. 25 and No. 5 Texas on April 1. Texas State dropped two of three games at JMU last weekend in its final series of Sun Belt play. Chase Mora leads the Bobcats at the plate with a .294 average, 14 doubles, eight home runs and 44 RBIs. Righty Bryson Dudley will make the start on the mound for the Bobcats on Tuesday.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Texas State have met 25 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 19-6, after the Mountaineers swept the regular season series in Boone for their first series win against Texas State. App State also notably earned its first Sun Belt Tournament victory against Texas State, winning 1-0 in pool play in 2021.
APP AT THE SBC
App State is the only team in the Sun Belt conference to have won at least one game at the Sun Belt Tournament each of the last four seasons. The Mountaineers are 7-7 overall in Montgomery and made it to the Sun Belt semifinals each of the past two seasons. The Mountaineers previously earned a win over Little Rock in 2022 and Texas State in 2021 for the program's first tournament win. App State's lone conference tournament championship came as a SoCon member in 1984.
LICHTENBERGER LEADS THE WAY
Freshman shortstop
Tyler Lichtenberger was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year on Monday, in addition to being recognized as a first team all-conference shortstop. He becomes the second player in program history to earn Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors joining
Austin St. Laurent (2022). Lichtenberger burst onto the scene in 2025, reaching base safely in each of his first 34 games played. Overall, Lichtenberger has reached base safely in 46 of his 52 games played, registering hits in 40 of those contests, including a team-leading 24 multi-hit efforts. The Boca Raton, Fla. native ranks among Sun Belt leaders in batting (seventh – .342) and hits (sixth – 69), while his 40 hits in league play are also tied for fourth-most in the conference.
Lichtenberger has impacted the game in all facets. He has hit 13 doubles and stolen seven bases, while he has been a part of 21 double plays turned defensively. He was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List on April 18, 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.
IT'S MILLER TIME
App State sophomore
Kameron Miller was named the Sun Belt's first team all-conference designated hitter on Monday. Miller has been outstanding this season reaching base safely in 37 of his last 40 games, including an 11-game hitting streak during that span. Miller has belted 11 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 OBP (5
th - .470), walks (5
th – 41), on-base (6
th - .473), RBIs (6
th – 50) and OPS (7
th – 1.049). Moreover, in Sun Belt play the Harrisburg, N.C. native ranks among Sun Belt leaders in OBP (.2
nd - .514), walks (T-2
nd – 27), batting 3
rd - .368), OPS (3
rd – 1.146), RBIs (3
rd – 35) hits (T-7rh – 39), SLG (8
th - .632) and home runs (9
th - 8). Miller has transformed himself into a complete hitter in 2025, working a team-leading 41 times this season after not walking once as a freshman.
JUAN GONE
App State first baseman
Juan Correa leads App State with 16 home runs on the season and is now tied for fifth place on the Mountaineers' single-season home run list. Correa hit a grand slam, a two-run shot and added a two-run single against South Alabama on May 11, giving him a career-high eight RBIs, the most among an App State player in the Sun Belt era. Correa ranks among league leaders in RBIs (3rd – 58), home runs (T-5th – 16) and slugging (4th - .632). 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 four times this season (against Queens, UMass Lowell, Wake Forest and South Alabama). Correa has hit safely in 34 of 46 games this season (in which he has recorded an official at-bat) including a ten-game hitting streak during that span.
LEATHERMEN
In Sun Belt play this season, App State ranks second in the league defensively, committing just 23 errors in 30 conference games for a fielding percentage of .979. The Mountaineers have not committed an error in seven consecutive games. App State also leads the league in throwing out opposing base stealers, cutting down 21 runners in 45 attempts (47%).
Braxton Church has thrown out 20 runners overall this season, the second-most in the Sun Belt.
FANTASTIC FIG
Sophomore
Tyler Figueroa was named a second team All-Sun Belt selection as a utility player on Monday. Figueroa has been one of the most versatile players in the Sun Belt this season, starting games at second base, third base, left field and center field. The Colonie, N.Y. native has played in all 53 games (starting 52), leads the team with 43 runs scored and ranks second with 14 doubles. Figueroa also paces the Mountaineers with seven stolen bases and has committed just three errors defensively. Figueroa was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on April 8 after going 8-for-19 (.421) at the plate, with a double, three home runs, 10 RBIs and five runs scored against Western Carolina and ULM.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Through 53 games this season, the App State offense has registered 105 doubles which ranks fourth in the Sun Belt.
Braxton Church leads the way with 15 doubles on the season, while
Tyler Figueroa (14) and
Tyler Lichtenberger (13) have also reached double figures. The record for doubles in a season is 168, set in 2007. Individually, David Rubinstein owns the program record with 30 doubles in 2007.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
App State has hit 29 sacrifice flies this season which ranks second in the Sun Belt and 47th 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.
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 five 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 a season-high seven. The graduate student has allowed two earned run or fewer in 16 of his 24 outings this season. He boasts a 4.43 ERA and has struck out 51 batters in 65.0 innings of work this season. He has also allowed just two home runs this season and earned his first career save in Saturday's tournament-clinching win over Georgia State.
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 48 games played this season Zamora is batting .312 with 34 RBIs and 41 runs scored. 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.
SOUTHPAW SUCCESS
Reyn Watson has become an impactful piece of the Mountaineers bullpen during the back-half of the season. The transfer from Florida Southwestern State has given up just two earned runs across his last seven outings (9.0 IP) while striking out nine. On April 22 against ETSU, Watson retired all five batters faced, including three strikeouts.
Similarly,
Jake Beaty has been pivotal as a left-handed relief option. The junior worked 2.2 scoreless innings to earn the win at South Alabama on May 11. Over his last nine appearances he has worked to a 4.50 ERA (8 ER/15.1 IP) and struck out 11 batters during that span.
SUPERB SUN BELT
The Sun Belt continues to be one of the top conferences in college baseball with Coastal Carolina and Southern Miss both ranked in the top-15 in this week's D1Baseball top-25, while nine Sun Belt schools rank in the top-150 nationally in RPI. Last year the league finished with nine teams in the top-100, with four making the NCAA Tournament. The Sun Belt has sent four teams to NCAA Baseball Regionals in each of the past three seasons—including four to regional finals in 2024.
UP NEXT
If App State defeats Texas State on Tuesday, the Mountaineers will advance to the double elimination bracket. They would next play on Wednesday against top-seeded Coastal Carolina at 5 p.m. ET.
