ATLANTA – App State Baseball will head into its regular season finale Saturday in sole possession of third place in the Sun Belt Conference standings despite falling 4-2 to Georgia State on Friday night at the GSU Baseball Complex.

The Mountaineers (30-21, 17-12 SBC) put the tying run in scoring position in the ninth inning but could not deliver a decisive hit with runners on second and third after Colton Denton's single and Tank Yaghoubi's double with one out.
 
Despite the result, with Friday losses by Troy and Louisiana, the Mountaineers can claim sole possession of third place in the final standings with a series-clinching victory against the Panthers on Saturday afternoon. App State has clinched at least a share of third in the final standings, with Troy (16-13 SBC after a loss to ULM) and South Alabama (16-13 SBC after a win against Arkansas State) trailing the Mountaineers by one game. Louisiana, Texas State and Old Dominion are another game back at 15-14 in the league.

Before this season, App State had never finished better than sixth place in the Sun Belt standings, doing so in 2023 and 2024.
 
Gage Peterson struck out seven batters and allowed just one run across three innings in the Friday start for the Mountaineers. Peterson eclipsed 100 strikeouts on the season and struck out the side in a 1-2-3 second inning. The right-hander saw his workload limited with App State having already clinched a spot in the double-elimination portion of the Sun Belt tournament and wanting to line up its pitching for postseason play.
 
Peterson ends the regular season with an 8-0 record, becoming the first App State pitcher to earn at least four wins in a regular season without a defeat since Ryan Arrowood in 2012. 
 
The Mountaineers grabbed the lead in the third inning. Trailing 1-0, Nico Soul walked to begin the frame and stole second to get into scoring position. Jalen Seward then came through with an RBI single through the left side, and later in the inning, Riley Luft drilled an RBI double to left-center, capping a 10-pitch at-bat. Luft has now reached base safely in 27 consecutive games.
 
Georgia State (25-28, 13-15) seesawed back in front with two runs in the sixth. The Panthers came through with a pair of two-out RBI singles, with one runner reaching scoring position following a passed ball. 
 
Ethan Wilson took the loss despite going a season-high 4.1 innings in relief and striking out four. Jake Beaty registered the final two outs of the ballgame.
 
Georgia State grabbed the lead in the first inning on a Wills Maginnis solo home run and tacked on an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI single from Adam Haber who finished with two hits and two RBIs.
 
App State will look to close out the season with a rubber game victory at 1 p.m. Georgia State has a lot on the line, as the Panthers and Marshall (13-16 SBC) are tied for ninth place, one game ahead of two teams tied for 11th at 12-17 (Arkansas State, ULM). The top 10 teams qualify for next week's Sun Belt Championship tournament, with seeds 7-10 playing in single-elimination openers Tuesday in Montgomery, Ala.
 
The 2026 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.