Appalachian State University baseball starts its first of four games on the road this week, battling UNC Asheville for the conclusion of its home-and-home series.

First pitch is scheduled for Tuesday, May 2 at 6 p.m. and will be streamed online on the Big South Network.

NOTING THIS WEEK'S GAME

• Appalachian State baseball (18-26, 7-14 Sun Belt) begins the final month of the season by heading to finish up its two-game series against UNC Asheville (17-24, 7-8 Big South).

 

• In the first game of the series back on March 8, Appalachian took a wild 4-3 game in Boone that featured no shortage of drama. Drake Zupcic and Avery Jackson led the way offensively for the Mountaineers going 2-for-3 and 2-for-4, respectively, while Reed Howell got the win on the moung, going 2.1 innings and allowing just one run.

 

• Appalachian State is looking to continue its recent streak, being 6-4 over their last 10 games as it looks to make its first Sun Belt Tournament berth since joining the league in 2014.

 

• Since the Mountaineers' 7-3 win over Georgia Southern, eight Diamond Apps have hit right below .300 during the 6-4 stretch.

 

• Most notably have the emergence of freshman catcher Bradley Davis and utility infielder/designated hitter Avery Jackson. Davis is batting .270 in 10 games played during the recent stretch, getting 10 hits and eight RBI.

 

• Brian Bauk and Matt Vernon led the way in the last seven games with extra-base hits, with Bauk having three doubles and Vernon having five.

 

• Conner Leonard has continued his strong attack at the plate over the second half of the season, hitting three home runs in the last 10 games as well as 15 hits for 11 RBI.

 

• In Leonard's last 10 games, he's hit15-for-40 (.375), three HR, two doubles and 11 RBI. Four of his last 10 have been multi-hit performances with three of being three-hit efforts.

 

• During the 6-4 stretch, the Mountaineers have also done the work on the mound, pitching a team average 3.72 ERA to an opponents 6.11 ERA. 

 

• Matt Vernon and Drake Zupcic have continued to lead the way offensively for App State overall on the year when hot bats have been hard to come by at times. The team is following their lead in recent games, however, as 11 players have hit above .250.

 

•  Vernon currently leads the team with a season-high .310 batting average, having a .489 slugging percentage. Zupcic has bat .299 with a .387 slugging percentage and has jumped to third on the team in RBI with 22.

 

• Stroup still leads the way with home runs and RBI with seven and 27, respectively, continuing the good play from when he became the second Appalachian player to hit for the cycle in 14 years on March 21 (See “Stroup Emerges as Power Hitter” below).

 

• Appalachian's Saturday starting pitcher Colin Schmid recently had a record-setting performance against Georgia Southern. The sophomore lefty struck out a career-high 13 batters on the night – the most by any App pitcher since at least 2003. 

 

• Schmid's 13 Ks is the third highest by any pitcher in the Sun Belt this season (Alex Cunningham, Coastal Carolina - 14 vs. San Francisco), and second highest in league play (Austin Crook, Troy - 14 vs. ULL).

 

• The Mountaineers struck out 18 in all that night (Reed Howell punched out five in relief) for the highest total this season. It's the most the team has cumulatively struck out since April 21, 2011 (19 at Davidson in 12 innings).

 

• Appalachian has been in almost every game this season no matter the opponent with 11 of its 24 losses this season have come by two runs or less.

 

• Pitching has continued to be a staple this season for the Black and Gold, currently fifth overall as a team in the Sun Belt with a 4.32 ERA. After being third earlier in the season with a 4.03 ERA, Appalachian dove to the bottom-half off a wild, bad-weather weekend against UTA. Appalachian is also tied fifth in the league in pickoffs with eight.

 

• LHP/DH Schmid has continued to be the Mountaineers' two-way player this season again and with a team-best season ERA of 3.08 (good for seventh in SBC), he continues to be one of the best two-way players in the Sun Belt Conference despite a slow start at the plate (see “Schmid Continues To Be One of Sun Belt's Two-Way Studs” below).

 

• After a hitting slump, Schmid emerged on April 18 at Radford, going 2-for-4 for a double on the night. He also crossed the plate once.

 

• Another two-way player for Appalachian has been Matt Brill. The Apps' ace closer, Brill hit .421 (7-17) during a five-game stretch with two doubles, a home run and two RBI to finish with a .765 slugging percentage. He also crossed the plate twice himself.

 

• Tyler Stroup is currently riding the longest reached-base streak for the Mountaineers at 11. He's the fourth player to reach base in 11-straight games, with none being able to get the 12th so far.

 

• At 18 wins, Appalachian State is three wins away having it's most victories since 2014 (21).

 

APPALACHIAN STATE BASEBALL at UNC Asheville
Date	Opponent	Time (ET)	App State Probable Starting Pitcher	Opponent's Probable Starting Pitcher
Tuesday, May 2	UNC Asheville	6 p.m.	So. LHP Bobby Hampton	TBA