The Mountaineers traveled to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to take on the James Madison Dukes for a three-game series this weekend.
On Friday, the Mountaineers managed to close a massive gap to the Dukes, but in the end fell short, losing 13-9.
After a horrendous start to the game, the Black and Gold found themselves down 11-0 after three innings.
The Mountaineers rallied in the next two innings, putting up seven runs to cut the deficit to 11-7.
After a scoreless sixth for both teams, JMU managed to strike back with a two-run seventh to extend their lead to six.
The Mountaineers responded with a two-run double in the eighth by redshirt junior infielder Austin St. Laurent, bringing them within four, but couldn’t muster up any more offense, dropping the first game of the series.
St. Laurent and senior outfielder CJ Boyd were the only Mountaineers to record multi-hit games on the day, with St. Laurent hitting 2-5 with a double and two RBIs and Boyd hitting 2-5.
The pitching staff got off to an abysmal start, but managed to put together a solid back half to give the Mountaineers a chance to rally.
Redshirt junior pitcher Bradley Wilson got the start on the day, lasting three innings and giving up 11 runs while striking out one.
Wilson was relieved by senior pitcher Grey LaSpaluto, who played 2.2 innings, giving up no runs and striking out five.
LaSpaluto left the game and sophomore pitcher Everette Harris was brought in to replace him. Harris lasted 0.2 innings, giving up two runs while striking out one.
Harris was relieved by redshirt freshman Max Tramontana who played 1.2 innings, while allowing no runs before the game ended.
On Saturday, the Black and Gold took an early lead, but went cold the rest of the game, losing 8-5.
The Mountaineers got off to a good start, taking a 4-0 lead in the second with a grand slam by redshirt freshman catcher Graham Smiley.
The App State bats went cold for the next few innings, allowing the Dukes to come roaring back and take a 7-4 lead by the seventh.
The Mountaineers whittled the lead down to 7-5 on a sacrifice fly by senior outfielder Banks Tolley in the eighth, but allowed the Dukes to score another run to bring the final score to 8-5.
The pitchers had a shaky performance allowing the Dukes to claw their way back into the game after the hitting corps gave them a four-run advantage.
Sophomore pitcher Jackson Steensma started the game, playing 4.2 innings while allowing two runs and striking out four.
Steensma was relieved by junior pitcher Collin Welch, who went 2.2 innings while giving up six runs and striking out one, before being replaced by senior pitcher Ryan Sleeper.
Sleeper went 0.2 innings, allowing no runs while striking out one.
On Sunday, the Mountaineers played the Dukes close for a few innings before JMU ultimately pulled away, taking the game 11-5.
The Mountaineers and Dukes traded the lead back-and-forth through the first five innings with the Black and Gold trailing 4-3 at the end of the fifth.
App State added one run in the top of the sixth to tie the game, but then gave up seven unanswered runs to go down 11-4 by the ninth.
St. Laurent hit a homer in the ninth to make the final score 11-5.
The pitchers got off to a solid start before crumbling at the end of the game.
Senior pitcher Dante Chirico started the game, going 5.2 innings while giving up four runs and striking out four.
Chirico was relieved by redshirt sophomore pitcher Zach Lewis, who played 1.2 innings while giving up three runs and striking out two.
Lewis left the game and was replaced by junior pitcher Cody Little, who went 0.2 innings and gave up one run.
This loss meant the Mountaineers had been swept in a weekend series for the first time this year.
The Black and Gold will return to action on Tuesday at 6 p.m. against UNC-Asheville in Boone. The game can be watched live on ESPN+.
