NORFOLK, Va. – After having a six-run lead cut to one in the fifth,
Ethan Wilson emerged from the App State bullpen. The graduate student brought a sense of calm to the Mountaineers, tossing three scoreless innings, before passing the baton to
Jordan Fisher for two more scoreless frames in a 10-6 victory over Old Dominion to win the series.
Wilson, the grad transfer from DII Belmont Abbey, earned his first win of the season, while Fisher, a five-year Mountaineer, earned his seventh career save, the 11th-most in program history. App State (12-10, 2-4) tallied 11 hits at the plate, highlighted by a five-run third inning. They never trailed in the contest.
The third inning production all came as part of a lengthy two out rally. With two on and two out,
Steven Smith singled to center field to score
Tommy Walker who had reached on a walk.
Riley Luft followed with an opposite-field single to right to bring home
Joseph Zamora who singled earlier in the inning.
Ethan Puig lined a third straight RBI single to force Old Dominion (11-11, 2-4) to turn to its bullpen early.
After
Tank Yaghoubi walked to load the bases,
Jalen Seward capped the rally with a two-run single up the middle. App State sent ten men to the plate in the frame.
The two teams traded runs in the fourth and the Mountaineers scored again in the fifth to take a 7-1 advantage. The Monarchs then produced a big inning of their own in the bottom of the fifth inning, using a two-run double from Zach Leite and a three-run home run from Tyler Zedalis to cut the App State advantage to 7-6.
Wilson proceeded to enter and record all three outs in the fifth. He ultimately retired nine of the ten batters he faced, striking out three. Fisher retired six of the seven batters he faced, rolling a key double play in the eighth.
The Mountaineers picked up some key insurance late.
Charlie Evans doubled with one out in the eighth and scored on a Luft RBI single two batters later. Luft finished the game with two hits and three RBIs. Zamora added an RBI single in the ninth and the Mountaineers capped their scoring by plating a run on a balk in the final frame.
App State will return home to face High Point on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in midweek action. The Panthers (14-9, 4-2) swept Presbyterian in their weekend series. Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The 2026 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
