BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball kicks off its week on the road with a Tuesday matchup in Cullowhee against Western Carolina at 5 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State (19-15, 7-8) has won five of its last six games, following a series win over ULM last weekend. During this most recent stretch, the Mountaineers are averaging more than 11 runs and nearly 14 hits per contest.
Steven Smith leads the offense with a league-best .400 average on the season, while the Mountaineers as a team are leading the Sun Belt batting .312 as a team to go along with a league-best .419 on-base percentage. On the mound, App State is averaging 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings and ranks sixth in the league with a 5.54 ERA.
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
Western Carolina (23-14, 6-3) swept its weekend series from Mercer, highlighted by a 17-run outburst on Saturday and are looking to post back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time since 2013-14. Noah Quarless leads the offense with a 1.015 OPS, hitting 12 doubles and five home runs in 33 starts. The Western Carolina pitching staff has attacked the zone all season, leading the SoCon and ranking eighth nationally with just 3.17 walks per nine innings. The Catamounts were picked to finish fifth out of eight teams in the SoCon preseason poll, while five Catamounts were named to a preseason all-league team.
SERIES HISTORY
In the Mountaineers most-played series all-time, App State and Western Carolina have squared off 161 times on the diamond, with the Catamounts holding a 94-66-1 advantage, dating back to 1955. Western Carolina won the first meeting this season in Boone, 13-3 on March 10.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Four App State Baseball players have garnered national recognition heading into the 2026 season.
Nico Soul was projected to be the No. 1 impact freshman in the Sun Belt,
Gage Peterson (31) and
Carter Stanford (48) were both projected as top 50 draft prospects within the conference, while
Tanner Nolan was ranked as the 153rd best starting pitcher across Division I baseball. The recognition has continued into the season, as
Jonathan Xuereb was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List, given to the top shortstop in college baseball, on March 4 and Peterson was named to the National Pitcher of the Year Watch List on March 11.
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 belted the first pitch of Tuesday's game against UNC Asheville over the left field fence for what began a career night at the plate. Smith finished with four hits (including a second home run and a double) and scored five runs. He also pitched a scoreless inning and earned D1Baseball's Mid Major Performance of the Day. Smith went on to tally eight hits in 14 at-bats on the week with eight RBIs and six runs scored. Smith now leads the Sun Belt in batting at .400 on the season and ranks among league leaders in OPS (1.094 - 4th), hits (48 - 5th), doubles (13 - T-5th) and slugging (.633 - 9th). He has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games. The two-way player has also recorded five scoreless outings in six appearances on the mound. He is the first two-way player for the Mountaineers since Andrew Terrell and Phillip Cole pitched and hit in 2021.
TALK TO CHUCK
Outfielder
Charlie Evans is riding an 18-game hitting streak (.400) since March 10, raising his average from .250 to .364. Evans hit two triples in Saturday's game against ULM, becoming the first Mountaineer to triple twice in a contest since Isaac Harrow in 2009. His second triple on Saturday marked his 100th collegiate hit. Evans tripled again on Sunday and finished a home run shy of the cycle in the series finale. Evans made a highlight-reel catch on Sunday as well and ranks among the best outfielders in the nation in defensive runs saved.
LED BY LUFT
Sophomore outfielder
Riley Luft has been on a surge for the Mountaineers, hitting safely in 20 of his last 23 games. Over that stretch, Luft is batting .337 with 25 RBIs, raising his average from .172 to .298 during that span. Luft's improved play this season can be attributed to a more selective approach. He walked six times as a freshman in 42 games played and has already walked 18 times this season in 32 appearances.
FOUR SCORE...
Jake Mummau had a career day at the plate on March 31 for App State. The senior infielder went a perfect 4-for-4, including two doubles, drove in a pair of runs and scored three times in the Mountaineers 17-7 win over UNC Asheville. Mummau followed it up with a pair of three-hit efforts against Marshall in the opening weekend of April, to finish his week 10-for-15 with five RBIs. He has now hit safely in nine of his last ten games, batting .436 during that stretch and hit his first home run of the season on Saturday against ULM.
PUIG IS CLUTCH
Ethan Puig lined a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning to lift App State to a last-at-bat win over Marshall, on April 3. Puig's single capped an 11-game hitting streak, in which the sophomore infielder tallied seven multi-hit efforts. He has now hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games batting .439 during that span and raising his average by 90 points on the season.
FACING NOLAN
Tanner Nolan improved to 3-0 on the season, earning the victory in the Mountaineers' rubber game win over ULM on Sunday. Nolan registered his first quality start of the season allowing just two earned runs in six innings of work. Nolan enjoyed a lengthy stretch of dominance during that outing, in which he retired 14 consecutive Warhawk batters. The transfer from Crowder College owns a perfect 16-0 record in three collegiate seasons.
WALK THIS WAY
Senior catcher
Tommy Walker enjoyed a career day at the plate last Tuesday. The Charlotte, N.C. native blasted a fourth-inning grand slam for his first collegiate home run en route to a 18-5 win over UNC Asheville. Walker finished the contest with a career-high five RBIs, matching
Kameron Miller for the most in a game this season. After tallying just one extra-base hit in his first three seasons, Walker has seen five of his ten hits this year go for extra bases (3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run).
BRINGING THE WIFF
App State pitching has struck out 312 batters this season, the fifth-most in the Sun Belt, and are on pace to record the most strikeouts in program history. The Mountaineers staff owns a 9.4 K/9 rate this season, a major jump from the Mountaineers 7.7 K/9 rate from a season ago. The K/9 rate ranks fourth the Sun Belt and 62nd nationally. App State has also lowered its team ERA from 7.03 in 2025 to 5.54 in 2026 under first-year pitching coach
Heath Blackmon.
WHAT A RELIEF
Redshirt senior
Jordan Fisher has been dialed in out of the bullpen of late, recording four straight scoreless outings, totaling seven innings of work. He earned his first victory of the season on April 3 against Marshall and has recorded two saves on the year. He has lowered his ERA to 3.97 on the season. Left-hander
Jake Beaty has also been strong this season and has not allowed an earned run in eight of his 10 outings on the year. Beaty owns a 4.00 ERA on the season and opponents are hitting just .222 against the senior.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
App State leads the Sun Belt and ranks second in the country with 30 sacrifice flies this season, accounting for 10.5% of the team's runs this year. App State has already eclipsed last year's total when the team finished the year with 29 sac flies. App State has also been much more small-ball oriented this year, registering 22 sacrifice bunts, double their 11 sacrifices from a year ago.
SUPERB SUN BELT
The Sun Belt continues to be one of the top conferences in college baseball, and ranks fifth in the nation in conference RPI, boasting seven top-80 teams. Coastal Carolina was the College World Series runner-up a season ago, falling to LSU, while Southern Miss joined the Chanticleers in hosting a regional in 2025. The league sent four teams to regionals in 2022 through 2024 and has done so six times since 2000. Coastal Carolina ranks seventh in this week's top 25 and Southern Miss checks in at No. 22.
UP NEXT
App State will continue its road swing with a three-game set at James Madison this weekend. The Dukes are 16-18 on the season and 6-9 in Sun Belt play after being swept by Georgia State last weekend. They will host Richmond on Tuesday.
