Career: With nine saves in 2018, is fifth in App State’s single-season history and eighth on the school’s career list … Made 30 appearances in 2018 to tie for ninth on App’s single-season list and 74 career appearances (including 14 starts) to tie for 10th place … Had a 2.37 ERA over 47 games in his final two seasons as a relief pitcher (2018, 2016) … Finished with 131 strikeouts and 54 walks in 157 career innings.
2018: Had a 2.29 ERA with nine saves and a 2-4 record in 39.1 innings over 30 appearances as a senior. Gave up only five extra-base hits with no homers or triples … Save total ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference regular season, and he led the league with 27 games finished. Ranked second with his 30 appearances … Had five saves in Sun Belt play … Didn’t allow an earned run in 25 of 30 outings. During one stretch of 16 straight appearances, he gave up no earned runs over 18.0 straight innings … Had a 0.00 ERA at home with four saves in 12.0 innings over 11 appearances. Gave up nine hits and two unearned runs in those 11 games ... Had two three-save weeks, as he totaled six saves in an eight-game stretch from April 18 to May 5. App State went 6-2 in that stretch … Recorded wins against Little Rock and Georgia State late in the season … Needed only nine pitches to complete a one-inning save at ULM on April 21.
2017: Often the Sunday or Game 3 starter on the mound for the Mountaineers … Led App State with 14 starts (in 14 appearances), as he posted a 2-8 record with a 5.85 ERA. Had 59 strikeouts, only 20 walks and 98 hits allowed (only five homers) in 75.1 innings … Had the best groundball ratio on the team ... Through six starts, Watts had a 3.25 ERA and a 1-1 record by allowing one earned run in two games, two earned runs in two games, three earned runs in one game and four earned runs in one game … Pitched at least 5.0 innings in each of his first eight starts and 10 of his first 11 … Tied for seventh among Sun Belt pitchers with only 20 walks … Helped App State cap a road series sweep of Gardner-Webb by allowing one run on three hits and striking out seven batters in 7.0 innings of his team’s 5-1 victory … In App State’s 4-3 loss at No. 14 Louisiana, received no decision after striking out nine batters and limiting the Ragin’ Cajuns to three runs on six hits through 5.2 innings … Also allowed one run on six hits over 6.1 innings in App State’s 3-2 loss at No. 26 Missouri on March 12 … In a 6-1 win against Georgia State, Watts allowed one run on five hits and struck out five batters over 7.0 innings.
2016: Made 17 appearances in relief in his redshirt sophomore campaign … led all relievers with a 2.48 ERA … fourth among relievers in strikeouts with 24 … finished the year with 29.0 innings pitched and a 1-1 record … in back-to-back trips to the mound against Campbell (April 5) and Troy (April 8), struck out three batters in each game, while only allowing one earned run through a combined 5.0 innings pitched … 11 scoreless appearances on the year … struck out six batters, allowed one earned run and three hits in his final 8.1 innings pitched on the season against UT Arlington (May 14) and Longwood (May 19).
2015: Made 13 relief appearances as a redshirt freshman … started out the season strong, with three scoreless outings to start the season, followed by limiting Georgia Southern to just one run on two hits over a season-high 3.1 innings … turned in two more scoreless performances down the stretch versus Troy (1.0 IP - April 5) and at Virginia Tech (0.2 IP - April 28).
2014: Redshirted.
High School: Two-time all-conference honoree ... helped lead Alexander Central to Northwestern 4-A/3-A Conference championship as a senior ... went 8-2 on the mound while hitting .440 as a junior ... coached by Jerry Whittman ... attended same high school as Appalachian State assistant coach Matt Payne ... went 7-3 in summer of 2012 for Heat Showcase team, which is coached by Appalachian State Athletics Hall of Famer Pete Hardee ... High school teammate of catcher and App State newcomer Riley Smith.
Personal: Full name is Luke Edward Watts ... cousin, Mark Ivey, is a former Appalachian State football student-athlete and currently serves as an assistant coach (defensive line) for the Mountaineers ... majoring in risk management and insurance.
