BOONE, N.C. – Friday nights have become synonymous with dominance on the mound from
Caleb Cross.
For the third consecutive Friday, the redshirt senior delivered a complete game for App State Baseball, helping the team clinch a series victory over JMU by a final score of 4-2.
App State (21-17, 11-6) has now won four consecutive Sun Belt series and five of its last six.
Cross yielded just two runs (one earned), collecting six strikeouts, while allowing just nine base runners. He gave up five hits, all singles, and walked four, throwing 77 of his 117 pitches for strikes.
The Sanford, N.C. native let his defense do much of the work behind him, collecting 12 groundouts and seven flyouts in the contest. Cross fielded his position well, too, recording a putout and four assists in the ballgame. He faced just two over the minimum after the second inning.
Cross has won each of his last four starts, allowing just three runs over 33 innings during that stretch, good for a 0.82 ERA. The right-hander improved to 6-1 on the season, while lowering his ERA to 2.64 on the campaign.
In a game where neither team scored more than a single run in an inning, the Mountaineers offense gave Cross just enough support.
After JMU (12-27, 5-12) took the lead with a run in the top of the first inning, App State leveled the score in the bottom of the frame.
Braxton Church was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and after a one out walk to
Kameron Miller,
Juan Correa ripped an RBI single back up the middle to tie the score at 1-1.
Correa recorded another RBI in the third, this time putting the Mountaineers in front, a lead they would not relinquish. With two outs in the inning, Miller doubled to right-center field, and Correa followed with a double of his own that rolled all the way to the wall in left-center field, giving App State a 2-1 advantage.
The Mountaineers pushed the lead to 3-1 in the fourth on a
Tyler Figueroa solo home run to left field, his seventh long ball of the season.
After JMU plated a run on a passed ball in the top of the sixth, App State got the run right back in the home half of the frame. Figueroa tripled into the left field corner and
Riley Luft brought him home on an RBI groundout.
App State will go for the series sweep on Saturday, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. in the finale. The 2025 App State baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
