BOONE, N.C. – Trailing by six runs in the fourth inning, App State Baseball tied the score in the bottom of the fourth, and again in the home sixth, but No. 15 Wake Forest re-took the lead in the ninth and the Mountaineers' were turned away on a sliding catch for the final out of the ballgame in a 9-8 loss in front of the fourth-largest crowd in Smith Stadium history, Wednesday.
The App State (7-5) offense belted three home runs in the ballgame and the pitching staff combined for 10 strikeouts against a Wake Forest (12-1) team that is now tied for the nation's longest winning streak, winning their 12th in a row.
"That was just an electric crowd," head coach
Kermit Smith said. "In ten years, I think that was the most engaged I heard our student body. That can be a home field advantage for us the rest of the way. We can make it one of the toughest places to play in the Sun Belt; here in Boone."
Trailing 7-1 in the bottom of the fourth,
Joseph Zamora hit a ground ball to second base with one out. On a play where many players would jog to first base, Zamora hit the accelerator and after a bobble by the Wake Forest second baseman, Zamora beat the throw, setting the tone for the inning.
Nico Soul, the very next batter, blasted a 446-foot home run to center field, and two batters later,
Ethan Puig followed with a solo shot to left field as the decibel level skyrocketed.
Drew DuPont then lined a ball to center field that got past a diving outfielder and rolled to the wall for a stand-up triple.
Riley Luft brought home DuPont with an RBI single to right-center, ending the day for Wake Forest starter Cameron Bagwell.
Jalen Seward greeted reliever Luke Schmolke with a two-run dinger to left, his first home run as a Mountaineer, to level the score at 7-7.
After not striking out a single Wake Forest batter through the first four innings, the App State bullpen impressed down the stretch.
Reyn Watson got the final two outs of the fourth and proceeded to strike out the side in the fifth. Watson conceded the go-ahead run in the fifth, issuing a bases-loaded walk after he appeared to strike out the previous hitter, but did not get the benefit of the call on a 3-2 pitch, giving Wake Forest the 8-7 lead.
After
Jordan Fisher retired the side in order in the sixth, App State tied the game back up. Puig sliced a triple into the right field corner and DuPont brought him home with an RBI groundout one batter later.
Fisher stayed in for the sixth, striking out the first two batters, to give him four consecutive punchouts. After a hit batter and a walk put the go-ahead run in scoring position, App State turned back to the bullpen and
JJ Garcia struck out the first batter he faced on three pitches to end the threat.
Garcia followed with a scoreless seventh, helped by an outfield assist from Luft who fired from foul territory in left to get Dalton Wentz attempting to stretch a single into a double.
Wentz and Kade Lewis each hit a two-run home run to help Wake Forest build a 6-1 lead in the second inning.
Wake Forest took the lead for good, pushing across a run in the ninth on three consecutive two-out walks, following a one-out single.
App State out-hit Wake Forest 10-9, paced by three hits from Soul and two from Puig and Luft. All three finished with a pair of RBIs.
The Mountaineers threatened in the ninth.
Tank Yaghoubi was hit by a pitch with two outs and
Colton Denton worked a walk to push the tying run into scoring position.
Joseph Zamora then lined a ball to right-center and Javar Williams made a sliding catch to secure the win for the visitors.
App State will return to action with a three-game weekend series against Presbyterian. Friday's game is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Clinton, S.C. The Mountaineers then will host games Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m., with Saturday's matchup in Hickory and the series finale in Boone.
The 2026 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
