BOONE, N.C. – Winners of seven straight and 12 of its last 14 games, App State Baseball heads to Shelby, N.C. on Tuesday to face Wake Forest in the final non-conference game of the season. First pitch from Keeter Stadium is set for 6 p.m.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State (26-16, 13-8) are red hot and are coming off the program's first series sweep of Georgia Southern in program history. The Mountaineers lead the nation in sacrifice flies this season, while ranking among the top 25 in batting average, hits, on-base percentage, runs per game and doubles. The Mountaineers are led at the plate by
Steven Smith and
Charlie Evans, who are the only set of teammates in the country batting above .400 on the season.
Kameron Miller notched the third three-homer game in program history on Friday and has hit six home runs in his last six games. The Mountaineers' bullpen has been exceptional of late as well, firing seven scoreless innings against ETSU on Tuesday, and following that up with 6.1 scoreless to seal the weekend finale.
SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS
Wake Forest (28-17, 11-13) was swept by No. 3 Georgia Tech over the weekend. Prior to that they had won four of five, including a midweek win over No. 7 Coastal Carolina two weeks ago. The Demon Deacons are led at the plate by Kade Lewis who is batting .374 with 10 doubles, 12 home runs and 47 RBIs on the year. Right-hander Duncan Marsten will make the start on Tuesday. He is coming off five scoreless innings in a midweek win over UNCG last week. The Deacs are very patient at the plate, ranking sixth nationally in walks, while their pitching staff leads the nation with a 12.4 strikeout-per-nine-inning rate. Their 75 home runs are also 18
th nationally.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Wake Forest have met 68 times on the diamond dating back to 1970. The Demon Deacons have won nine straight in the head-to-head series, despite four one-run contests during that stretch. In the first meeting in Boone on March 4, App State rallied from six-runs down to tie the score, but Wake Forest scored a ru in the ninth to win 9-8. App State's last victory against Wake Forest came Feb. 26, 2020, when App State topped the 24th-ranked Demon Deacons 11-9 in Winston-Salem. It represents the Mountaineers' most recent win over an ACC opponent.
ON A HEATER
App State has won seven consecutive games marking its longest winning streak since opening the 2023 season 7-0. The last time that the Mountaineers won eight in a row was during a 12-game winning streak in 2012. App State set a program-record with 41 wins that season, coming within a win of a superregional appearance.
APRIL SHOWERS FLOWERS
App State has excelled in the month of April, going 12-3 in the month. During the month, App State is slashing .382/.481/.571 while pitching to a 5.18 ERA and holding opponents to a .249 batting average. They have outscored their opponents 157-94 this month, highlighted by 43 runs in a weekend at James Madison, April 17-19.
THE 400 CLUB
Steven Smith (.404) and
Charlie Evans (.403) are among 13 players in the nation batting over .400 this season – and the only set of teammates among that group. They rank as the top two hitters in the Sun Belt and aim to become the first to finish a season above .400 in the conference since Jesse Sherrill of Georgia Southern led the league in batting with a .409 average in 2023.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
App State leads the nation with 35 sacrifice flies this season, accounting for 9% 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 31 sacrifice bunts, nearly triple their 11 sacrifices from a year ago.
IN PLAY, RUN(S)
App State leads the Sun Belt in runs scored this season with 369, and its 8.8 runs per game scoring average ranks 14
thnationally. A big reason behind the success has been the Mountaineers' ability to put the ball in play. App State ranks last in the Sun Belt in strikeouts (269) and first in hits (473). App State has also drawn a league-best 210 walks, resulting in a league-best .429 on-base percentage.
TALK TO CHUCK
Outfielder
Charlie Evans saw his 22-game hitting streak come to a close with an 0-for-3 performance on Tuesday but bounced back with a 6-for-12 weekend and has now hit safely in 25 of his last 26 games. The senior recorded the fifth-longest hitting streak in program history, hitting safely in every game from March 10 through April 19 and raising his average from .250 to .404 during that span. Evans hit two home runs during the Mountaineers' 10-0 win over James Madison last Friday, marking his first home runs of the season and his second career multi-home game, with the first coming against App State in 2024 when he was a member of Winthrop. 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 100
th collegiate hit. Evans tripled again a day later and finished a home run shy of the cycle in the series finale. He ranks among Sun Belt leaders in average (.403 – 2nd), triples (3 – T3rd), on-base (.457 – 10
th) and OPS (1.026 – 10
th). Evans is an elite center fielder, ranking among national leaders in defensive runs saved.
IT'S MILLER TIME
After missing a month of the season due to injury, preseason All-Sun Belt selection
Kameron Miller has found his groove. The junior made history on Friday against Georgia Southern, becoming the third App State Baseball player all-time to hit three home runs in a game. He led the Mountaineers to a run-rule victory over the Eagles and a perfect 4-0 week. Miller also homered on Tuesday against ETSU and all four home runs he hit last week traveled at least 410 feet. Miller joins Banks Tolley (2024 vs Georgia Southern) and Andre Crawford (1986 vs Marshall) as the only players to homer three times in a contest. Miller was walked six times on the weekend following his three-homer game. He finished the week going 5-for-11 (.455) with seven RBIs and seven runs scored, adding a single as part of a four-hit effort Friday night. Miller has homered six times in his last six games and has now hit 24 home runs in his career, putting him within three of ninth place all-time.
2-WAY STANDOUT
Steven Smith has impressed for the Mountaineers this season – both at the plate and on the mound. Smith ranks among league leaders in AVG (.404 – 1st), hits (63 – T-1st), on-base (.473 – 4th), doubles (16 – T-4th), OPS (1.095 - 5th), SLG (.622 – 8th), and RBIs (43 – T-8th). He has hit safely in 22 of his last 24 games, hitting .433 during that span. On April 7, the transfer from Division II Emory and Henry belted the first pitch of 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. 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.
JAKE RAKES
Jake Mummau has been on a tear since returning to the lineup for the Mountaineers in late March. The transfer from FGCU has hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games, batting .423 during that span. This includes nine multi-hit efforts, highlighted by a 4-for-4 game against UNC Asheville on March 31. Mummau registered two hits in all three games against Georgia Southern last weekend.
WHAT A RELIEF
App State's bullpen has excelled as of late, tossing seven scoreless innings of relief last Tuesday in a 3-1 win over ETSU and bookending the week with 6.1 scoreless frames to cap a sweep of Georgia Southern on Sunday.
Individually:
- RHP Jordan Fisher recorded his ninth career save on Sunday to tie him for eighth all-time. He has not allowed an earned run in six consecutive outings (10.1 IP).
- RHP Ethan Wilson earned the win on Sunday with a season-high 3.1 scoreless innings. He has not allowed a run in last five appearances (6.1 IP)
- RHP Max Tramontana fired 2.1 scoreless innings to close out the victory on Saturday. Across his last seven outings, Tramontana has allowed just one earned run in 12.0 innings (0.75 ERA).
- LHP Jake Beaty recorded the final four outs against ETSU on Tuesday to notch his first career save. He has not allowed an earned run in nine of his 12 appearances this season.
PUIG PACKS A PUNCH
Sophomore infielder
Ethan Puig has now hit safely in 21 of his last 24 games. Puig is batting .418 during that span, raising average from .246 to .341. The transfer from Miami has tallied 19 multi-hit games on the season.
LED BY LUFT
Sophomore outfielder
Riley Luft has been on a surge for the Mountaineers, hitting safely in seven straight and 28 of his last 32 games. Over that stretch, Luft is batting .376 with 28 RBIs, raising his average from .172 to .300 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 22 times this season in 40 games. He also earned a spot on D1 Baseball's Top Defensive plays of the week for an outfield assist in which he threw out a runner at third base from right field on April 18 at JMU.
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 eight 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 12th.
UP NEXT
App State head to Troy this weekend for a critical three-game Sun Belt series. App State enters the weekend tied with Southern Miss for second place in the standings at 13-8, while Troy sits one game back at 12-9 with nine games to play. The top six teams in the Sun Belt standings earn a bye to the double-elimination bracket in the Sun Belt tournament.
