App State baseball’s mid-week road trip to Cullowhee ended in defeat, as the Mountaineers came up short against the Western Carolina Catamounts Tuesday 10-5.
Six Western Carolina runs on six hits in the bottom of the first meant an early end to starting pitcher Trey Tujetsch’s night, who left the game after 0.2 innings pitched. Tujetsch was the first of eight Mountaineer pitchers to take the mound in the game.
The Mountaineers were unable to erase the deficit, going scoreless through their first four innings. The Catamounts added four more runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth to extend their lead to double digits.
App State put up their first run of the night in the top of the sixth, when redshirt junior third baseman Austin St. Laurent scored on a single from senior outfielder Banks Tolley.
That would be followed up one inning later when St. Laurent hit a three-run homer to make it a 10-4 game.
After a scoreless eighth inning, senior outfielder Hunter Wilder singled to right field to open the top of the ninth. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then to third on junior infielder Joseph Zamora’s groundout before scoring on another ground ball hit by senior outfielder CJ Boyd.
The possibility of a Mountaineer comeback ended when Tolley grounded out to second for the game’s final out.
Up next for the Black and Gold is a trip to Jonesboro, Arkansas for a three-game series with the Arkansas State Red Wolves. Start times are slated for Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m., with live coverage available on ESPN+.
