App State Welcomes ETSU for Mid-Week Contest - App State Athletics (2024)

Taylor Newton

Baseball 4/22/2024 4:18:00 PM

BOONE, N.C. – App State baseball will return to Smith Stadium on Tuesday to face ETSU for the second game of their home-and-home series with the Bucs this season. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State enters the week 22-14-1 on the season and 8-9-1 in Sun Belt play. The Mountaineers are coming off two wins this past weekend versus Arkansas State, and a tied game to end the series on Sunday. App State totaled 44 runs and six home runs during their Arkansas State series this weekend, including 20 runs on Friday, their most against a Sun Belt opponent since joining the league. Sunday's tie was just the eighth tie in program history and the first for the Mountaineers since 2010 against Western Carolina. The series also marked the Mountaineers first unbeaten road series in Sun Belt play since sweeping UT-Arlington in 2018. Austin St. Laurent leads the Mountaineers at the plate batting .358 with Banks Tolley close behind batting .357. Tolley leads App State with 17 home runs this season, which leads the Sun Belt and is tied for the App State single-season record. The season has been highlighted by a series win over No. 13 Coastal Carolina, the first series win over a top-15 opponent since defeating No. 7 LSU in 2012.

SCOUTING THE BUCCANEERS
ETSU enters Smith Stadium 24-13 this season. The Buccaneers won their series this past weekend against Purdue 2-1. Nick Iannatone leads the team at the plate with a .396 average, while Cameron Sisneros has slugged a team-high 14 home runs on the year. As a team the Buccaneers bat at .324 this season, with a total of 48 home runs this season. Owen Kovacs is the team's top reliever, posting a 3.12 ERA and six saves in 13 appearances this season.

SERIES HISTORY
App State and East Tennessee State have faced off 140 times since their first game in 1955. The Mountaineers lead the series 80-60, including a 9-6 win in Johnson City on Feb. 27. Last season the two teams split the season series.

PITCHING MATCHUP
RHP Walker Trusley (0-0, 7.04) vs RHP Trey Tujetsch(2-2, 8.27)

INSTANT OFFENSE
The Mountaineers offense has been impressive this season, and has scored double-digit runs in 15 games this year. Overall, the Mountaineers are averaging 9.3 runs-per-game which is second-most in the Sun Belt and 13^th in the nation. The App State offense also ranks leads the conference in home runs (67), and slugging percentage (.520), and ranks second in triples (11), third in on-base percentage (.420), and fifth in hits (384) and doubles (75).

BOMBS AWAY
App State has hit 67 home runs through 37 games this season, which is the most among Sun Belt teams and 26^th nationally. After hitting just 29 home runs as a team in 2022, App State has seen a major uptick in the power department the last two seasons, slugging 67 home runs in 2023. On Feb. 25 at Siena, Banks Tolley, Braxton Church, and Drew Holderbach hit back-to-back-to-back home runs, marking the first time since April 14, 2017 against Georgia Southern that the Mountaineers had hit three consecutive long balls in a game. App State tied a program record by hitting five home runs in a ballgame, doing so twice this season, once against Queens on March 19 and once against Troy on April 13. It marks the third and fourth times in program history and the first time since 2008 that App State has gone deep five times in a game. The program record for home runs in a season is 90, established in 1986, but no team has hit more than 67 in the BBCOR bat era (2011-present).

ALL SAINTS DAY
Redshirt junior Austin St. Laurent has been red hot at the plate as of late, hitting safely in 16 of his last 18 games. Over that span he has gone 36-for-82 (.439), with five home runs, 25 RBIs and 29 runs scored. St. Laurent has slugged ten home runs this season, eclipsing his total (6) from his first two years combined. After playing first base and shortstop as a freshman and center field as a sophom*ore, St. Laurent primarily played third baseman this season. Overall, he is slashing .358/.420/.630/.947. He ranks second in the Sun Belt in hits (59), fourth in runs scored (51), sixth in RBIs (46), and seventh in average.

TAKE IT TO THE BANKS
Banks Tolley has been seeing the ball well this season, slashing .357/.468/.747/1.215 with 17 home runs and 49 RBIs, starting in all 37 games this season. The Ole Miss transfer has hit safely in 32 of 37 games, including 18 multi-hit efforts. The Madison, Miss. native is currently riding a nine-game hitting streak, going 15-for-38 (.395), with six home runs and 13 RBIs over that span. Tolley leads the Sun Belt in slugging, ranks tied for first in home runs, first in total bases (115), and third in RBIs. On April 2 against High Point, Tolley ripped a single to left field that left the bat at 113.62 miles-per-hour, the hardest hit ball by a Mountaineer in the TrackMan era. April 20 at Arkansas State, Tolley tied the single-season home run record, matching Daniel Kassouf (2012) and CJ Boyd (2023).

ALL ABOARD
Drew Holderbach has been a valuable addition for the Mountaineers this season, after joining the team as a grad transfer from Rice. The first baseman is slashing .333/.503/.568/1.071 and has tallied 44 hits, 31 walks, and been hit by 16 pitches – compared to just 22 strikeouts, reaching base safely in all 37 games this season. Holderbach belted the go-ahead home run in the March 17 win at Texas State, which was the longest home run hit by a Mountaineer in recorded history, traveling 465 feet. Holderbach tallied an 11-game hitting streak from Feb. 20 through March 10. He ranks third in the Sun Belt in on-base percentage, fourth in doubles (14) and fifth in walks.

SUPER STEENSMA
After recording seven saves as a closer his freshman season, Jackson Steensma has been superb since moving into the starting rotation as a sophom*ore. Steensma is coming off a career-high 6.1 innings in his win at Arkansas State on Saturday, striking out six without issuing a walk. Steensma registered a career-high ten strikeouts in a win over Troy on April 13 and has combined for 16 strikeouts and just two walks across his last two starts. The sophom*ore also took a no hitter into the fifth inning against Marshall on March 30. Steensma is now 5-2 on the season with a 4.14 ERA and has struck out 52 batters in 50 innings of work. He has gone at least five innings in seven of his ten outings, including four quality starts. His five wins are tied for fifth in the Sun Belt, while his 1.16 WHIP is seventh in the Conference.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Despite hitting ninth in the batting order, Joseph Zamora has had a major impact on the Mountaineers offensive attack. Zamora recorded an 11-game hitting streak, from March 19 – April 7 going 22-for-46 (.478), with nine doubles, 20 RBIs, and ten runs scored over that span. Zamora was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on March 26, following 10 hits and 10 RBIs the week prior, helping the Mountaineers to a series win over No. 13 Coastal Carolina. The App State second baseman has reached base in 25 consecutive games dating back to March 3. He leads the Black & Gold with a .391 batting average in Sun Belt games.

BASHIN' BOYD
After matching a program record with 17 home runs a season ago, CJ Boyd is on pace to eclipse that mark this season, having already gone deep 14 times in 37 games. Boyd has now hit 31 career home runs which ties him for third place on the App State career list, despite playing just 82 games in a Black & Gold uniform. A first team All-Conference selection in 2023, and a preseason All-Conference selection this season, Boyd was ranked as the 64^th best outfielder in the nation on the D1baseball.com midseason rankings.

WHAT A RELIEF
Senior right-hander Grey LaSpaluto is undefeated out of the Mountaineers bullpen this season, boasting a 6-0 record which is tied for the most wins in the Sun Belt and is one of just two pitchers in the league to win six games in relief. Over LaSpaluto's last seven outings he has struck out 11 batters in 8.2 innings of work. The Mountaineers are 10-3-1 in games in which LaSpaluto pitches.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
App State has registered a .420 on-base percentage this season, in large part due to being hit by a lot of pitches. App State batters have been hit 95 times in 37 games, a mark that leads the Sun Belt and ranks third in the country. Individually, Drew Holderbach has been hit by 16 pitches, which ranks third in the Sun Belt, while Banks Tolley has been plunked 11 times.

LEATHERMEN
Through 37 games this season, the App State defense has committed just 35 errors in 1,293 chances for a team fielding percentage of .973, which ranks fourth in the Sun Belt and 87^th nationally. App State has finished with a fielding percentage above .972 just twice in a season in program history.

SUPERB SUN BELT
App State enters the week with an RPI of 83, sitting as one of 10 Sun Belt teams inside the top-100 in college baseball. The Sun Belt continues to be one of the top conferences in college baseball, ranking fourth in the nation in RPI, ahead of the Big Ten and Pac12. Last season nine Sun Belt teams finished in the Top-100 in RPI, with four Sun Belt squads advancing to the regional round of the NCAA tournament.

UP NEXT
App State will travel to Atlanta for a three-game series with Georgia State. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. with game two slated for 3 p.m. on Saturday. The series concludes on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. in the finale. The Panthers open the week 20-19 on the season and 10-8 in Sun Belt play. Currently just three wins separate second place and tenth place in the conference standings.