BOONE, N.C. – With six games to play in the regular season, App State Baseball sits in third place in the Sun Belt standings, as the Mountaineers host Louisiana in the final home series of the 2026 campaign. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. and Saturday's contest is slated for 3 p.m. The series wraps up on Sunday with first pitch set for 1 p.m. in the finale. Senior day ceremonies will take place pregame on Saturday and Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State (28-18, 15-9) has won five consecutive Sun Belt series and six of eight series overall in league play after taking two of three games on the road at Troy last weekend. App State swept a doubleheader on Saturday as the offense erupted for 11 runs in the seventh inning of game one and
Gage Peterson fired seven scoreless innings in a game two shutout. Peterson leads the Sun Belt with 88 strikeouts on the season and has fanned at least six batters in all but one start this year. He is 7-0 on the season.
Steven Smith leads the Mountaineers at the plate, batting .384 with 17 doubles, six home runs and 48 RBIs. The Mountaineers as a team are batting .319 on the season, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks ninth nationally. App State is scoring 8.5 runs per game.
SCOUTING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Louisiana (30-19, 12-12) has won eight of its last ten games but suffered an extra-inning setback against New Orleans in a mid-week contest on Tuesday. Last Month, Louisiana took two of three from No. 10 Southern Miss and also earned some notable non-conference wins early in the season, defeating Maryland, Kansas State, UC San Diego, Dallas Baptist, Houston and No. 2 LSU. As a result, the Cajuns rank 54
th in the nation in RPI. Colt Brown leads the way at the plate, batting .319 on the season with 12 doubles, four home runs and 37 runs knocked in. Saturday starter Andrew Hermann holds a 6-2 record with a 3.90 ERA and 87 strikeouts, while opponents hit just .214 against him. Closer Cody Brasch has a 2.42 ERA and five saves for Louisiana.
SERIES HISTORY
App State and Louisiana have met 23 times, all since the Mountaineers joined the Sun Belt in 2015. The Cajuns lead the all-time series 14-9. The teams most recently met in 2023, when App State took two of three in Lafayette. Starting pitching led the way in that series with Xander Hamilton fanning 13 to earn the win in game one and
Bradley Wilson allowing just two runs over six innings to earn the game two win. Louisiana salvaged the finale behind 5.2 scoreless from Cooper Rawles.
WHERE THEY STAND
App State enters the weekend in third place in the Sun Belt standings at 15-9 on the season. The Mountaineers won a program-record 16 Sun Belt games in 2023 and 2024 and have a chance to eclipse that mark this weekend. In each of those seasons the Mountaineers finished sixth in the league standings, their best result as a Sun Belt member. The only time that App State has won more than 16 conference games came in 2012 when they won the Southern Conference regular season title with 21 league wins. App State has an opportunity to clinch a top-six seed in the Sun Belt tournament with a series win over Louisiana.
ON A HEATER
App State has won five straight Sun Belt series and won nine consecutive games against Sun Belt opponents prior to Sunday's loss against Troy. The league winning streak was the longest in program history. App State also won seven consecutive games overall from April 17-26, the longest since beginning the 2023 season 7-0. During its last five Sun Belt series, the Mountaineers have outscored their opponents 153-91 and are batting .376 as a team, while holding their opponents to a .255 mark.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
App State ranks second in the nation with 37 sacrifice flies, accounting for 9% of the team's scoring this year. App State has already eclipsed last year's total when the team finished the year with 29 sac flies. App State has also been much more small-ball oriented this year, registering 34 sacrifice bunts, more than triple their 11 sacrifices from a year ago.
IN PLAY, RUN(S)
App State leads the Sun Belt in runs scored this season with 392, and its 8.5 runs per game scoring average ranks 20
thnationally. A big reason behind the success has been the Mountaineers' ability to put the ball in play. App State ranks last in the Sun Belt in strikeouts (303) and first in hits (506). App State has also drawn a league-best 224 walks, resulting in a league-best .423 on-base percentage.
2-WAY STANDOUT
Steven Smith has impressed for the Mountaineers this season – both at the plate and on the mound. Smith ranks among league leaders in AVG (.384 – 2nd), hits (66 – T-6th), on-base (.458 – 10th), doubles (17 – T-7th), OPS (1.045 - 7th), slugging (.587 – 8th), RBIs (48 –7th) and runs scored 46 – 6th). He has reached base safely in a season-best 28 consecutive games, hitting .400 during that span. He has recorded a team-high 22 multi-hit games and 13 multi-RBI games this season. On April 7, the transfer from Division II Emory and Henry belted the first pitch of game against UNC Asheville over the left field fence for what began a career night at the plate. Smith finished with four hits (including a second home run and a double) and scored five runs. He also pitched a scoreless inning and earned D1Baseball's Mid Major Performance of the Day. The two-way player has also recorded five scoreless outings in six appearances on the mound. He is the first two-way player for the Mountaineers since Andrew Terrell and Phillip Cole pitched and hit in 2021.
TALK TO CHUCK
Outfielder
Charlie Evans has hit safely in 26 of his last 30 games batting .402 during that span. During that stretch, Evans registered a 22-game hitting streak, the fifth longest by a Mountaineer in program history. Evans hit two home runs during the Mountaineers' 10-0 win over James Madison on April 17, marking his first home runs of the season and his second career multi-home game, with the first coming against App State in 2024 when he was a member of Winthrop. Evans hit two triples in April 11 game against ULM, becoming the first Mountaineer to triple twice in a contest since Isaac Harrow in 2009. His second triple marked his 100
th collegiate hit. Evans tripled again a day later and finished a home run shy of the cycle in the series finale. He ranks among Sun Belt leaders in average (.377 – 4th), triples (3 – T3rd), and sacrifice flies (4-T-8th). Evans is an elite defender, ranking second in defensive runs saved by a center fielder (11.19).
IT'S MILLER TIME
After missing a month of the season due to injury, preseason All-Sun Belt selection
Kameron Miller has found his groove. The junior made history on April 24 against Georgia Southern, becoming the third App State Baseball player all-time to hit three home runs in a game. He led the Mountaineers to a run-rule victory over the Eagles and a perfect 4-0 week. For his efforts, Miller was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week and continued his hot hitting with a solo home run against Wake Forest on April 28 for his seventh long ball in seven games. Miller joins Banks Tolley (2024 vs Georgia Southern) and Andre Crawford (1986 vs Marshall) as the only players to homer three times in a contest. Miller has now hit 25 home runs in his career, putting him within two of ninth place all-time.
JAKE RAKES
Jake Mummau has been on a tear since returning to the lineup for the Mountaineers in late March. The transfer from FGCU has hit safely in 16 of his last 20 games, batting .395 during that span. This includes nine multi-hit efforts, highlighted by a 4-for-4 game against UNC Asheville on March 31. Mummau registered two hits in all three games against Georgia Southern last homestand.
GAS FROM GAGE
Junior right-hander
Gage Peterson has been sensational for the Mountaineers this season. The Saturday starter is a perfect 7-0 on the year and leads the Sun Belt with an opponent's batting average of just .193. Peterson is also tied for the league lead in strikeouts with 88 and has struck out at least six batters in 11 of his 12 starts this season. He is on pace to join Xander Hamilton (2023) as the only pitchers to strike out at least 100 batters in a single season. Peterson ranks seventh in the league with a 3.18 ERA and tied for third with seven wins. He has surrendered just two home runs in 68 innings of work this season. The transfer from Walters State Community College has led the Mountaineers to a 9-3 record in his starts this season.
FLAMIN' HOT DIRITO
After beginning the season in the bullpen, right-hander
Nick DiRito earned a spot in the starting rotation and has been the Friday night starter throughout conference play. DiRito is 4-1 on the season with a 4.50 ERA, highlighted by a career-high eight scoreless innings against James Madison on April 18 in which he matched a career-high with eight strikeouts. DiRito was dominant again against Troy in his last outing, tossing seven scoreless innings for his first complete game of the season. The transfer from UMass Lowell ranks sixth in the Sun Belt with 72 strikeouts on the season and eighth in strikeout to walk ratio (4.24).
WHAT A RELIEF
App State's bullpen has excelled as of late:
- RHP Jordan Fisher recorded his ninth career save on April 26 to tie him for eighth all-time. He did not allowed an earned run in six consecutive outings (10.1 IP) from March 10-April 26
- RHP Ethan Wilson has earned a win in relief each of the last two. He has allowed just one run in last seven appearances (10.1 IP)
- RHP Max Tramontana fired 2.1 scoreless innings to close out the victory on April 25. Across his last nine outings, Tramontana has allowed just two earned run in 16.0 innings (1.13 ERA).
- LHP Jake Beaty recorded the final four outs against ETSU on April 21 to notch his first career save. He has not allowed an earned run in 10 of his 14 appearances this season.
PUIG PACKS A PUNCH
Sophomore infielder
Ethan Puig has now hit safely in 24 of his last 28 games. Puig is batting .388 during that span, raising average from .246 to .330. The transfer from Maimi has tallied 20 multi-hit games on the season.
LED BY LUFT
Sophomore outfielder
Riley Luft has been on a surge for the Mountaineers, reaching base in each of his last 22 games and hitting safely in 30 of his last 35. Over that stretch, Luft is batting .379 with 32 RBIs, raising his average from .172 to .322 during that span. Luft's improved play this season can be attributed to a more selective approach. He walked six times as a freshman in 42 games played and has already walked 24 times this season in 44 games. He also earned a spot on D1 Baseball's Top Defensive plays of the week for an outfield assist in which he threw out a runner at third base from right field on April 18 at JMU.
UP NEXT
App State will close out the regular season in Atlanta against Georgia State, Thursday through Saturday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. in each of the first two games and 1 p.m. for the series finale. The Panthers are 10-14 on the season and tied for 10
th place in the Sun Belt standings.
