HICKORY, N.C. – In just his second start back from injury,
Caleb Cross delivered the most dominant outing of his career, setting a career-high in strikeouts and helping App State to a 1-0 shutout of UMass Lowell, Friday afternoon at L.P. Frans Stadium.
The App State (2-3) offense scored the lone run of the ballgame in the bottom of the first inning.
Braxton Church led off the frame with a double down the left field line and one batter later
Juan Correa chopped a single up the middle to score the Mountaineer catcher.
That was all the offense the Mountaineers' pitching staff would need. Cross retired eight of the first nine batters he faced and struck out two River Hawks in each of the first four innings of play, eclipsing his previous career-high of seven strikeouts set against Old Dominion on April 23, 2023.
Cross (win, 1-0) ultimately fanned 10 batters in 5.1 innings, allowing just four hits and two walks in the contest. Cross has now allowed just one earned run across 9.2 innings through two starts this season, good for a 0.93 ERA.
The right-hander gave way to lefty
Jake Beaty in the sixth inning with two runners in scoring position after allowing a walk and a double. Beaty promptly picked up a strikeout and a flyout to get out of the inning with the lead intact.
Cross also flirted with trouble in the fifth inning when a hit by pitch and a double put a pair of UMass Lowell (2-2) players in scoring position, but Correa threw out the lead runner at home plate on a ground ball to first base to help keep Cross' line unblemished.
After Beaty worked two scoreless innings, retiring all six batters he faced including a pair of strikeouts, the Mountaineers turned to redshirt junior
Jordan Fisher. The former walk-on earned his first career save, striking out two over the final 1.2 innings of play to secure the 1-0 win.
The pitching staff combined to allow just five hits and two walks across nine scoreless innings, while striking out 14.
The victory was the Mountaineers' first 1-0 shutout since May 25, 2021, when App State defeated Texas State 1-0 in the Sun Belt Tournament for the program's first Sun Belt Tournament victory.
App State returns to L.P. Fans Stadium on Saturday for the middle game of the weekend series with UMass Lowell, with first pitch set for 2 p.m.
The 2025 App State Baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
