Powered by a record-breaking home run and exceptional defense, App State baseball won a nail-biting home game against Western Carolina Wednesday, 7-6.
The Mountaineers got off to a strong start in the game, plating 2 runs in the bottom of the first to establish an early cushion.
Redshirt freshman outfielder Dillon Moquin led off the game with a base hit to right field, quickly followed by senior infielder Joseph Zamora punching a ground ball through the right side. Senior infielder Braxton Church brought Moquin across on an RBI groundout to get the Mountaineers on the board.
App State added another run 1 pitch later on a single to center field by senior first baseman Juan Correa which scored Zamora.
The Black and Gold kept the offensive production coming in the third. Church smacked a base hit to right center, which Correa replicated right after. Freshman infielder Tyler Lichtenberger continued his impressive season, driving in Church on a hard-hit single to center field, extending the lead to 3.
The pitching staff shined in the early going, holding the Catamounts without a hit through 3 innings.
Redshirt junior Liam Best, typically a relief pitcher, made his first collegiate start for App State in a bullpen game for the Mountaineers, tossing a scoreless inning before handing the reins to redshirt sophomore Cal Clark who threw 2 of his own. Church, who is normally behind the plate, made several plays at third base to keep the Catamounts off the scoreboard.
Western Carolina broke through in the fourth with a 2-out single, but redshirt sophomore catcher Graham Smiley limited the damage to just the 1 run with a running catch in foul territory to end the inning.
The score remained 3-1 in the Mountaineers’ favor until the top of the sixth. Western Carolina hit back-to-back singles to start the frame and cut their deficit to 1 after Moquin dropped a fly ball near the right field wall. The Catamounts grabbed the lead with a 2-RBI single to left field, but were denied a chance at more runs by a leaping grab at first by Correa.
App State looked to answer right away as Smiley began the home half of the inning with a base hit. Moquin reached base on an error by the Catamounts’ shortstop, putting the Mountaineers in prime position to score.
Following a flyout by Zamora, sophomore first baseman Kameron Miller stepped in. On a full count and with 2 outs, Miller demolished a go-ahead 3-run moonshot way into the trees beyond the left field fence to retake the lead, much to the delight of the App State fans.
Miller’s blast was one for the record books, setting a new benchmark at 471 feet for the longest home run in the program’s Trackman era, dating back to 2019. The previous record was 462 feet, set by Drew Holderbach in 2024. The ball was clocked at 112.77 miles per hour off the bat according to App State Baseball Analytics, making it the second-highest exit velocity in the Trackman era, only being topped by Miller himself when he hit a home run 112.91 miles per hour in February against High Point.
Miller credited assistant coach Ross Steedley giving him advice just before the big swing.
“I remember Coach Steeds saying, ‘Hey, this guy favors his curveball over his slider,’ so I was just waiting on a curveball, and he hung it,” Miller said postgame. “I knew it off the bat.”
After Miller’s homer, Church kept the momentum going by beating out a ground ball to second base, coming all the way around to score when Correa slapped a base hit to shallow right field that rolled all the way to the wall and ended up as an RBI triple.
The Catamounts got 1 back in the seventh on a double play ball and threatened again in the ninth against redshirt junior pitcher Jordan Fisher. Fisher allowed a single to begin the inning, and Western Carolina almost had back-to-back base knocks if it wasn’t for a sensational play by Zamora, diving to his left to snag a ground ball and throwing from his knees to get the first out of the ninth.
Western Carolina closed within 1 on a wild pitch and got the tying run on base with another hit, but Fisher composed himself and slammed the door shut, inducing a popout into the glove of Lichtenberger to seal the comeback victory.
Five Mountaineers had multi-hit performances, led by Correa going 3-4 at the plate.
App State sits at 17-15 on the season following their win over Western Carolina. The Mountaineers have a big conference road test as they travel to play Marshall in a 3-game series, all of which will stream live on ESPN+.
