BOONE, N.C. — App State Baseball held a lead through four innings before Marshall moved ahead with a four-run fifth and scored in each of the next two innings to take control in a 12-6 victory at Smith Stadium on Thursday night.
The three-game series is scheduled to resume Friday at 6 p.m. and conclude Saturday afternoon, before an off day on Easter Sunday.
Jake Mummau went 3-for-4 with a two-run double for the Mountaineers (14-14, 3-7 Sun Belt), while
Steven Smith was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and one run scored.
Ethan Puig went 2-for-4, and App State got two runs apiece from
Colton Denton and
Jalen Seward.
Bryce Blevins allowed six runs on 11 hits for Marshall (14-14, 6-4 Sun Belt) but took the mound with the lead over the final four innings of an effective eight-inning outing that included 117 pitches.
The first four batters of the game reached for Marshall, and App State starter
Tanner Nolan retired the next three batters to limit the early deficit to two runs. The Mountaineers responded with one run in the second and two more in the third, getting their first run on consecutive singles from Smith,
Riley Luft and Puig.
After Nolan's scoreless top half of the second, a walk to Denton was followed by a Seward double that put two runners in scoring position for Mummau, who ripped a double to right.
Marshall used a two-run fourth to take a 4-3 lead, but the Mountaineers pulled ahead 6-4 with three more runs in the bottom half. A one-out double from Denton and walk from Seward preceded a two-out walk by
Tank Yaghoubi, and
Charlie Evans beat out an infield single with the bases loaded to extend the inning. Smith then delivered a two-run single to center.
A groundout to open the Marshall fifth was followed by a double, an infield error, an RBI single, an RBI double and a two-run double. The Thundering Herd scored two unearned runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
The 2026 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
