BOONE, N.C. – Despite a tremendous start from Gage Peterson, App State Baseball was unable to hold the lead late in a 7-4 loss to No. 16 Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
First pitch of the series finale has been moved up to 11 a.m. on Sunday, due to inclement weather expected later in the afternoon.
Peterson fired a career-high seven scoreless, striking out nine, while conceding just two hits and two walks. He retired six in a row twice in the ballgame. Peterson lowered his ERA to 1.24 through five starts this season and has now struck out 41 batters in 29.0 innings, while walking just 10.
App State (10-8, 0-2) gave Peterson some early run support. With Nico Soul at first base and two outs in the third, Riley Luft reached on an infield single to put runners at the corners and Ethan Puig followed with an RBI single to center. Colton Denton then ripped an RBI double down the right field line to push the advantage to 2-0.
The Mountaineers doubled their lead an inning later. Jalen Seward led off with a double down the left field line, and Charlie Evans singled to put runners at first and third. Soul plated a run with an RBI groundout and Steven Smith came through with a single through the left side to increase the lead to 4-0.
It remained that way until the eighth, when Coastal Carolina (12-6, 2-0) scored three runs with two outs to make it a one-run contest.
Then in the ninth, the Chanticleers plated the tying run on an error and took the lead with a two-out single, before Trace Mazon belted a two-run home run to give the visitors the 7-4 advantage.
The 2026 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
