BOONE, N.C. – The App State offense scored in each of the final six innings at the plate, while the pitching staff retired 16 of the final 18 batters it faced leading the baseball team to a 13-5 victory over ULM on Friday at Smith Stadium.
Riley Luft broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with an RBI single up the middle, beginning a stretch of eight unanswered runs for App State (18-14, 6-7) to run its winning streak to four in a row.
ULM (19-16, 7-6) led the ballgame 4-1 in the top of the fourth inning before App State rallied to tie in the bottom of the frame.
Joseph Zamora and
Jake Mummau opened the frame with back-to-back doubles to cut the deficit to two, and Mummau scored on a wild pitch later in the frame to make it 4-3.
Charlie Evans was hit by a pitch and came in to score on a two-out single from Luft, who increased his team-high RBI total to 30 on the season.
Evans finished the ballgame 2-for-3 to extend his season-long hitting streak to 16 consecutive games. He reached base four times in the contest.
Kameron Miller belted his first home run of the season – a mammoth 432-foot blast down the left field line – to give the Mountaineers their first lead of the ballgame at 5-4 in the fifth.
After Marcus Aranda countered with a solo shot in the sixth inning to tie the score at 5-5, the Mountaineers offense responded with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and never looked back. Following Luft's go-ahead single,
Ethan Puig drove in a run with an RBI knock, as part of a three-hit effort.
Steven Smith highlighted the late-game offense tallying a two-run single in the seventh and another two-run single as part of a four-run eighth.
Nick DiRito earned the victory with six innings in the start for the Mountaineers. After an uneven start the redshirt junior finished strong, retiring seven of the final eight batters that he faced.
Everette Harris faced just one over the minimum, striking out three in two scoreless innings, and
Max Tramontana retired the Warhawks in order in the ninth to seal the win. Aranda's home run was the only hit the Mountaineers allowed after the fourth inning.
The App State offense tallied double digit hits for the sixth consecutive ballgame, and five Mountaineers enjoyed multi-hit efforts.
The two teams will play the middle game of the three-game series on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The 2026 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
