The App State baseball team kicked off their first series of the year at home on a positive note.
The Mountaineers began the series by hosting a doubleheader due to bad weather that took place the previous day. The series was originally scheduled to begin on Friday but due to inclement weather, it was pushed back to Saturday as a doubleheader.
App State began the series strong, sweeping the visiting Aggies winning the first game 6-2 and the second 7-6. After winning the first two games of the series in Boone, App State then headed down the mountain to Greensboro to look to take a 3-0 series lead. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned as they fell 11-3. The Mountaineers suffered 6 runs in the first inning and used seven different pitchers. App State won the series last night after defeating A&T 14-7.
In the first game of the series, the Mountaineers collected 17 hits as Tyler Tuthill collected his first win of the season. The Apps was lead at the plate by senior infielder Luke Drumheller who went 3-for-5 in game one with 1 RBI. App State had six batters drive-in runs on a very productive day at the plate.
Game two resulted in a lot of the same, NC A&T jumped on Quinton Martinez early in the first inning, plating 3 Aggies. The Aggies then plated 2 more runs in the top of the 4th inning before the Apps scored 5 runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 5 thanks to a 3-run-double from Luke Drumheller. App State then added 2 more runs and eventually held on to win 7-6. Quinton Martinez picked up his second win of the season.
Game 3 took a turn for the worse for App State as they fell on the road for their second loss of the year by a score of 11-3. NC A&T jumped all over starting pitcher Cole Hooper as he squandered 6 runs in the top of the first. NC A&T grabbed the lead in the first and never looked back. App State moved to 16-8 in their past 24 games since the start of 2020.
The Mountaineers were led by senior first baseman Robbie Young who went 3-for-4 on the day with a 2-run-homerun, his first since 2019. The Mountaineers were forced to dig deep into their bullpen with 7 guys pitching in relief. A&T scored 11 runs on 13 hits while the Mountaineers were only able to score 3 runs on 7 hits.
App State finished the series off on Tuesday with a win, taking the series 3-1. The Mountaineers were led by Andrew Terrell who pitched 2 innings and scored 4 runs at the plate.
On a day that was a “rotation” day for both teams, that meant both teams would utilize their bullpens very heavily for game 4. App State had more success with their bullpen than A&T did.
Two-way player Andrew Terrell proved vital as he was dominant both on the bump and at the plate for App. Terrell pitched 2 scoreless innings and also crossed the plate 4 times on offense. He struck out five of the seven batters he faced. Listed as a “utility” player, Kermit Smith took full advantage of his versatility on Tuesday. The Apps were lead offensively by Luke Drumheller who went 2-for-5 on the day with 1 RBI.
The Mountaineers sit at 6-2 overall after taking 3 of 4 games from the Aggies. App State returned to form on Tuesday as they prepare to hit the road to Greenville to take on the number 17 ranked East Carolina Pirates in a 3 game series. The Mountaineers will prepare for their toughest challenge yet as they look to continue their dominance this season.