BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball returns to Boone, where it will play seven of its next eight games in the friendly confines of Smith Stadium, beginning Tuesday against UNC Asheville. It marks the first game of a home-and-home series with the Bulldogs, with the Mountaineers making the return trip on April 7. First pitch Tuesday is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State (13-13, 3-6) earned its first ranked victory of the season on Saturday, defeating No. 11 Southern Miss, 6-2, but ultimately dropped the weekend series to the Golden Eagles in what was the Mountaineers' first trip to Hattiesburg.
Gage Peterson and
Nick DiRito continued to excel in their roles in the starting rotation, while
Charlie Evans and
Ethan Puig have stretched hitting streaks to 10 straight and eight straight games respectively.
Steven Smith tallied a four-hit game on Saturday, raising his average to a team-high .380 on the season.
Kameron Miller also returned to the lineup after missing a month of play due to injury. The Mountaineers lead the Sun Belt in strikeouts per nine innings, boasting a 10.3 rate, good for 37
th nationally.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
UNC Asheville (14-14, 2-4) enters the matchup one win away from matching their 2025 win total under interim head coach Alex Raburn. They won eight of nine games during a stretch of play from late Feb. through early March. The Bulldogs salvaged the finale of their three-game series at USC Upstate on Sunday. The Bulldogs are led at the plate by Blaize Johnson who is batting .387 with six home runs and 29 RBIs through 28 games. On the mound, Drew Turner has been their most reliable arm this season and has been used in a variety of different roles.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and UNC Asheville have faced off 70 times in program history in a series that dates back to 1985. The Mountaineers lead the head-to-head matchup 46-24. The teams most recently met in Boone in 2024 when
Braxton Church hit a walk-off single with the bases loaded in the ninth to lift the Mountaineers to an 8-7 win.
LED BY LUFT
Sophomore outfielder
Riley Luft has been on a surge for the Mountaineers, hitting safely in 13 of his last 15 games. Over that stretch, Luft is 19-for-56 (.339) with 19 RBIs, raising his average from .172 to .282 during that span. Luft played in 42 games as a freshman (starting 36) last season and has played and started 24 this season.
SIZZLING
Outfielder
Charlie Evans is riding ten-game hitting streak (13-for-39, .333), raising his average from .250 to .298. Infielder
Ethan Puig has also hit safely in eight straight contests (13-36, .361, 11 RBI), bumping his season average from .243 to .295.
GAS FROM GAGE
Right-handed pitcher
Gage Peterson has been sensational for the Mountaineers through seven starts this season. He has struck out at least six batters in all seven outings this season. Peterson fired seven scoreless innings, striking out nine, against No. 16 Coastal Carolina on March 21. It came on the heels of a career-high 11 strikeouts against Presbyterian the weekend prior. Peterson is 3-0 this season with a 1.42 ERA and has struck out 54 batters in 38.0 innings of work. Peterson leads the Sun Belt and ranks 18th nationally in ERA, while also ranking second in the league and 26
th in the nation in strikeouts. He has not allowed an earned run in four of his seven outings. The JuCo transfer from Walters Peterson posted an 11.98 K/9 across two seasons at the junior college level and sits at 12.82 this season. Peterson was named to the National Pitcher of the Year Watch List on March 11.
FLAMIN' HOT DIRITO
After early-season dominance out of the bullpen,
Nick DiRito was moved into the Friday spot in the rotation, where he has started each of the last four weekends. DiRito has struck out 47 batters while walking just 11 in 33.0 innings this season. His 4.27 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks ninth in the Sun Belt. The righty also owns a 12.82 K/9 rate on the year, which ranks second in the Sun Belt and ranks 32
nd nationally.
2-WAY STANDOUT
Steven Smith has impressed for the Mountaineers in the early season – both at the plate and on the mound. The transfer from Division II Emory and Henry is batting .380 with 10 doubles, three home runs and 21 RBIs. Smith hit his first home run of the season on Feb. 20 against North Carolina A&T and followed with a walk-off home run on Feb. 21 in a run-rule win. He has also pitched for the Mountaineers this season tossing 6.0 innings across five appearances. He is the first two-way player for the Mountaineers since Andrew Terrell and Phillip Cole pitched and hit in 2021.
BRINGING THE WIFF
App State pitching has struck out 260 batters this season, the third-most in the Sun Belt. The Mountaineers staff owns a 10.3 K/9 rate this season, a major jump from the Mountaineers 7.7 K/9 rate from a season ago. The K/9 rate leads the Sun Belt and 37th nationally. App State has also lowed its team ERA from 7.03 in 2025 to 5.53 in 2026 under first-year pitching coach
Heath Blackmon.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
App State leads the Sun Belt and ranks fifth in the country with 21 sacrifice flies this season, accounting for 11% of the team's runs this year. App State finished last season with 29 sac flies, a mark that ranked third in the Sun Belt and 59
th nationally.
UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will host Marshall Thursday through Saturday in their second home Sun Belt series of the season. The Thundering Herd are 13-13 on the season and 5-4 in league play after being swept by No. 15 Coastal Carolina last weekend. The contests on Thursday and Friday will get underway at 6 p.m., and Sunday's finale is set for 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
