After its series sweep against Virginia Tech, NC State baseball will face Appalachian State for its second of two games against the in-state opponent this season. And if the second game ends up anything like the first, a 13-2 demolition by the Wolfpack in Raleigh, NC State won’t have any issue dealing with the Mountaineers.
NC State currently sports a five-game winning streak against App State, one of two times the Wolfpack has had such a streak against the Mountaineers. Another win for the Pack would make it the longest streak in the history of the series.
The Mountaineers are 15-20 on the year, but have come close to beating some good opponents. On March 6, App State narrowly lost a 5-2 game against then-No. 17 East Carolina, and then came close to toppling then-No. 19 UNC-Charlotte 11-8 on April 20. After coming close to an upset a handful of times, App State is due for one soon, and NC State will look to make sure that it isn’t the team the Mountaineers manage to beat. It’s worth noting that despite their poor record, the Mountaineers have a 9-3 record at home, and it’s NC State that will have to go on the road for this game.
Three Mountaineers are hitting above .270: junior infielder Luke Drumheller, super senior infielder Robbie Young and senior infielder Bailey Welch. Drumheller in particular has made a habit of bringing runners home, collecting 29 RBI, which leads the team by some distance. Of the three hitters, Young connects his bat with the ball most often, batting .301 this season. Welch has been the most patient hitter of the bunch, leading the team in walks with 18 and on-base percentage with .410.
Other hitters to make note of include senior outfielder Kendall McGowan, senior outfielder Alex Leshock and junior catcher Hayden Cross, all of whom have batting averages above .260. McGowan in particular is the power hitter in the lineup, leading the team with a .426 slugging percentage and tied for first with four home runs alongside Drumheller.
App State has a solid rotation of starting pitchers, the most noteworthy of whom is sophomore right-hander Noah Hall. Hall has a 5-0 record with a 3.19 ERA over 48.0 innings and is head and shoulders above the rest of the Mountaineer pitchers. If Hall doesn’t take the mound for App State, then junior lefty Tyler Tuthill is the next best pitcher for the Mountaineers. His 3.91 ERA over 53.0 innings isn’t perfect, but for a second option, he’s quite good. Towards the end of the starting rotation is senior left-hander Quinton Martinez, who has a 5.71 ERA over 52.0 innings.
In App State’s last game on April 25, the Mountaineers were pounded 12-2 by Troy in eight innings of play. The score was tied 0-0 heading into the fourth inning when Troy scored nine unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Welch was the only batter to collect multiple hits with two, while Terrell and Young collected RBIs. Martinez earned the start for the Mountaineers, pitching five innings and allowing 11 hits, four walks and earning two strikeouts.
The game against Appalachian State will be played on Tuesday, April 27 at 5 p.m. at Smith Stadium in Boone.
