Appalachian State University baseball will begin Sun Belt Conference action on Friday when it heads to Lafayette, La. to face No. 14 Louisiana for a three-game series. 

The Mountaineers begin the weekend at 7 p.m. on Friday before they do battle at 3 p.m. and 12 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, respectively (all eastern times). The Ragin' Cajuns are broadcasting all games on their website for free this weekend, with an audio only option offered by their home radio program.

NOTING THIS WEEKEND'S SERIES

• Appalachian State baseball (8-9) head into opening Sun Belt Conference series weekend as they travel to No. 14 Louisiana (9-5) at Russo Park.

 

• The all-time series is deadlocked at 3-3 as historically the Mountaineers and Ragin' Cajuns play each other close.

 

• This is the second-straight year that Appalachian has traveled the 862 miles to Lafayette, La., the third-longest trip the Mountaineers make during conference play. This weekend's trip will be the longest roadtrip of the season for App State.

 

• Appalachian is coming off a midweek two-game series sweep over NC Central. Game One was held in the home of the Triple A Minor League Charlotte Knights' BB&T Ballpark in Charlotte, N.C. where the Black and Gold won 9-5 in an offensive explosion. Game Two took place in the Durham Athletic Park, NC Central's home, on Wednesday, where the Diamond Apps got out to a big lead, but let up late, still winning 7-5.

 

• With the bats finally coming alive in the midweek games, multiple players had multi-hit efforts in both outings. Tyler Stroup went 4-8 for three RBI and a home run; Calev Grubbs went 4-9 for an RBI, a run and two walks; and Chandler Seagle went 4-6 for an RBI and run scored.

 

• LHP/DH Colin Schmid played in Wednesday's outing where he got an RBI on 1-4 batting, continuing to show he is once again one of the best two-way players in the Sun Belt Conference for the second-straight year. He's currently second on the team in batting (.250, 5-20, two doubles, one run) and leads all starters with a 2.42 ERA (26.0 IP, 27 H, 7 ER, 26 Ks) (see “Schmid Continues To Be One of Sun Belt's Two-Way Studs” below).

 

• Tyler Stroup a tank in right field in Wednesday's game to up his home run count to three this season. Stroup leads all batters with an impressive .458 slugging.

 

• The Mountaineers will look to carry their two-game winning streak forward as they try to win their opening conference series for the first time since joining the Sun Belt in 2015.

 

• App State is looking to get its ninth win on the year this weekend (March 17-19), something it hasn't done before in the month of March since 2013 when it went 9-5 to start the season. In 2013, it got its ninth win on March 13 (8-5 over Georgia). The Mountaineers also got their ninth win in March in 2012 – March 4 (15-4 over Rider).

 

• This weekend will see the usual weekend starters for Appalachian State, having RHP Travis Holden go on Friday, LHP Colin Schmid go on Saturday and RHP Luke Watts close down the weekend on Sunday.

 

• Holden makes his fifth start of the season, coming into the weekend with a 6.10 ERA. He's allowed 28 hits, 14 earned runs and struck out 18 batters in just 20.2 innings of work.

 

• Schmid will try to continue his impressive play of late, entering Saturday with a 2.42 ERA – best among starters. With a team-high 26.0 innings, the sophomore has allowed just 27 hits, seven earned runs and struck out a team-high 26 batters this season.

 

• Watts enters Sunday with the second-best ERA among starters (2.96). Making his fifth start, he's worked 24.1 innings and allowed 22 hits, eight runs and punched out 20 batters.

 

• Entering the weekend, starting catcher Chandler Seagle and pitcher/DH Schmid lead the Sun Belt Conference together by catching eight would-be base stealers each. Schmid's career-high numbers have come from the mound while Seagle's have come from behind the dish. Hampton and Brad Davis are next highest on the team with two.

 

• Since 2003, Schmid has the lowest stolen-base-against percentage for Appalachian baseball, allowing just 42.1 percent through two years (8-19).

 

• Seagle has caught 42.1 percent of would-be base thieves this season (8-19), leading the conference. 

 

SERIES HISTORY

• The 862-mile hike from Appalachian State to Lafayette is the third-longest trip the Mountaineers have to make in the Sun Belt Conference.

 

• The two teams first squared off in 2015, in Appalachian's first year as a member of the Sun Belt.

 

• Since then, the teams have traded wins and losses, entering this weekend's series tied at 3-3 all-time.

 

• Last season, the Diamond Apps were able to steal a game from the then-No. 19 Ragin' Cajuns in May, while winning the series in 2015.

 

• In 2015, the Mountaineers won the series in Boone, taking games one and three. Game won was won 2-1 in a pitchers duel that saw App State's Taylor Thurber throw a complete game, striking out 11 batters while only allowing five hits and one run in 112 pitches.

 

• Game Three saw Appalachian win 7-4 from five guys having multi-hit efforts. Conner Leonard particularly shined in that game, going 2-4 for three RBI.

APPALACHIAN STATE BASEBALL at Louisiana
Date	Opponent	Time (ET)	App State Probable Starting Pitcher	Opponent's Probable Starting Pitcher
Friday, March 17	No. 14 Louisiana	7 p.m.	Jr. RHP Travis Holden	Jr. LHP Gunner Leger
Saturday, March 18	No. 14 Louisiana	3 p.m.	So. LHP Colin Schmid	So. RHP Nick Lee
Sunday, March 19	No. 14 Louisiana	12 p.m.	Jr. RHP Luke Watts	So. LHP Hogan Harris