DURHAM, N.C. – App State Baseball freshman
Nico Soul blasted a home run off the batter's eye on the second pitch of the ballgame, but the Mountaineers were unable to hold an early advantage in a 10-5 loss at Duke, Tuesday.
App State (3-1) had a number of scoring opportunities but left 13 runners on base and went 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position, while Duke (4-1) scored each of its first seven runs of the ballgame with two outs.
Soul's home run was the first of his collegiate career. He entered the season ranked as the Sun Belt's top impact freshman by D1Baseball.
The Mountaineers continued their first-inning rally following the Soul homer.
Ethan Puig was hit by a pitch and
Joseph Zamora walked. Following a flyout,
Drew DuPont walked to load the bases and
Jonathan Xuereb forced home a run with a free pass of his own. With two outs,
Colton Denton also worked a bases loaded walk to put the Mountaineers ahead, 3-0.
App State made several standout defensive plays in the ballgame.
Kameron Miller recorded a double play in the home first where he took a ground ball to the bag for the first out and fired across to third base for the second. DuPont made a leaping catch against the side wall in right field to record an out in the third. Soul ended the eighth inning with a diving grab in the right-center field alleyway.
Making his first start following Tommy John surgery,
Caleb Marks struck out two in a pair of scoreless innings to open the ballgame. Marks went 2.2 innings allowing four runs, but three scored as inherited runners as Duke took the lead in the bottom of the third inning, sending 10 men to the plate.
The Blue Devils added two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and three more in the seventh. App State pitching was hurt by nine walks and a pair of hit batters in the ballgame.
App State also plated a run in the fifth when Xuereb hit a ground ball to first base to plate Zamora who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. The Mountaineers scored their final run in the ninth on an RBI groundout from Denton.
Max Tramontana logged his second scoreless outing of the season, retiring the side in order in the sixth inning and picking up a strikeout. He followed
Logan Tibbett, who recorded a career-high five strikeouts in 1.1 innings in relief.
Two-way graduate transfer
Steven Smith tossed a scoreless seventh inning in his first outing on the mound, while redshirt freshman
Mason Middleton made his collegiate debut in the eighth.
App State will return to action this weekend when they play a multi-team three-game series. The Mountaineers will face Queens on the road on Friday with first pitch set for 4 p.m. Saturday the Mountaineers will take on North Carolina A&T in Hickory at 1 p.m. App State will then face Southern Illinois on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Smith Stadium.
The 2026 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
