BOONE, N.C. – Winners of eight of its last ten games, App State Baseball will open its four-game homestand on Tuesday when the team welcomes ETSU to Smith Stadium for a 6 p.m. first pitch. The game will mark the final midweek home game of the season, and the contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State (22-16, 10-8) is coming off a series sweep of James Madison, which vaulted the Mountaineers into a tie for third place in the Sun Belt standings. App State scored 43 runs on 51 hits in the series, including 19 extra-base hits, highlighted by a season-high 19 runs in Saturday's series-clinching win. The Mountaineers now lead the Sun Belt with a .319 batting average, which also ranks ninth nationally.
Charlie Evans (.404) and
Steven Smith (.400) are the top two individually in the Sun Belt in batting average. Evans extended his hitting streak to 22 games on Sunday. App State is scoring 8.7 runs per game which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 16
th nationally. On the mound,
Gage Peterson and
Nick DiRito both rank among Sun Belt leaders in strikeouts. DiRito earned the win on Friday with eight strikeouts in eight scoreless innings.
SCOUTING THE BUCCANEERS
ETSU (25-12, 8-4) is coming off a series win over The Citadel, which came on the heels of a narrow loss at No. 5 Georgia last Tuesday. The Buccaneers rank in the top 100 nationally in RPI and posted an impressive win over Virginia Tech in midweek play a month ago. ETSU won the Southern Conference tournament a season ago to advance to its first NCAA Tournament since 2013. They were picked to finish third in the SoCon preseason poll. Starting pitcher Michael Harpster, reliever Derek McCarley and outfielder Jamie Palmese were all named to the preseason all-conference team. ETSU is led at the plate by Tristan Curless who is batting .403 with 11 doubles, 13 home runs and 52 RBIs through 37 games. The Bucs have been stellar defensively, posting a .976 fielding percentage.
SERIES HISTORY
Two longtime rivals from their days together in the Southern Conference, App State and ETSU are meeting for the 147th time in program history. App State leads the head-to-head series 83-62-1, following an 8-5 win in Johnson City on Feb. 25.
Nico Soul blasted a game-tying home run in the fifth inning and
Drew DuPont uncorked a go-ahead shot in the sixth to lift App State Baseball to victory in the first matchup of the home and home.
LAST TEN GAMES
App State has won 10 consecutive games, thanks in large part to a major uptick in offensive production. The Mountaineers are averaging 11.4 runs and 13.9 hits during the last ten contests and now lead the Sun Belt and rank 16th nationally in scoring (8.7). App State scored 43 runs across the three games at JMU, marking just the second time since 2012 that the team has plated over 40 runs in a weekend series.
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.
Steven Smith was awarded the Mid-Major Performance of the Week on April 7 after going 4-for-6 with two home runs and five runs scored – as well as pitching a scoreless inning – against UNC Asheville.
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 ranks among league leaders in AVG (.400 – 2nd), hits (56 – 2nd), OPS (1.092 - 4th), SLG (.629 – 7th), doubles (14 - 9th), RBIs (38 – T9) and OBP (.463 – 10th). He has hit safely in 19 of his last 20 games, hitting .432 during that span. 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 a 22-game hitting streak (.442) since March 10, raising his average from .250 to a league-leading .404. Only four players in program history have enjoyed longer hitting streaks than Evans, with the record sitting at 27 (Will Calloway – 2013). Evans hit two triples in April 11 game against ULM, becoming the first Mountaineer to triple twice in a contest since Isaac Harrow in 2009. His second triple marked his 100th collegiate hit. Evans tripled again a day later 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. He also ranks among Sun Belt leaders in triples (3 – T3), OBP (.467 – 9th) and OPS (1.054 – 10th).
FLAMIN' HOT DIRITO
After early-season dominance out of the bullpen,
Nick DiRito was moved into the weekend rotation, where he has started each of the last seven weekends. DiRito enjoyed his best outing of the season against James Madison on Friday, matching a personal-best eight strikeouts in a career-high eight scoreless outings to earn the win. DiRito has struck out 58 batters while walking just 14 in 53.0 innings this season. His 4.14 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks 9
th in the Sun Belt. DiRito struck out 40 batters in 45.2 innings last season for UMass Lowell, including five strikeouts in three innings against App State when he faced the Mountaineers in Hickory last February.
LED BY LUFT
Sophomore outfielder
Riley Luft has been on a surge for the Mountaineers, hitting safely in 23 of his last 27 games. Over that stretch, Luft is batting .380 with 26 RBIs, raising his average from .172 to .309 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 19 times this season in 36 games.
JAKE RAKES
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 12 of his last 14 games, batting .441 during that stretch and hit his first home run of the season on Saturday against ULM.
WHAT A RELIEF
Redshirt senior
Jordan Fisher has been dialed in out of the bullpen of late, recording five straight outings without conceding an earned run, totaling 9.1 innings of work. He earned his first victory of the season on April 3 against Marshall and recorded his eighth career save on Sunday at JMU to move into a tie for ninth on the all-time saves list. He has lowered his ERA to 3.29 on the season.
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 18 of his last 20 games batting .424 during that span and raising his average by 80 points on the season.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
App State leads the nation with 32 sacrifice flies this season, accounting for 10% of the team's scoring 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 26 sacrifice bunts, more than double their 11 sacrifices from a year ago.
BRINGING THE WIFF
App State pitching has struck out 312 batters this season, the fifth-most in the Sun Belt. The Mountaineers staff owns a 9.1 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 sixth the Sun Belt and 77th nationally. App State has also lowered its team ERA from 7.03 in 2025 to 5.72 in 2026 under first-year pitching coach
Heath Blackmon.
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 six top-60 teams and nine top-110 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 is ranked ninth in this week's top 25 poll, with Southern Miss also ranked 18th.
UP NEXT
App State will continue its homestand with a weekend series against Georgia Southern. The Eagles are 12-27 on the season and 5-13 in Sun Belt play and have lost six straight after being swept by Old Dominion last weekend. They will host The Citadel on Wednesday before making the trip to Boone.
