Despite losing the series to Georgia State University to conclude the regular season, App State baseball reached the 30-win mark for the third time in four years and clinched the No. 3 seed in the Sun Belt Championship tournament. The Black and Gold scored a dozen runs Thursday, but the offense faded as the weekend went on, scoring only 4 runs across the final 2 games of the series.

The Mountaineers’ bats started strong Thursday, scoring in each of the first four innings. After graduate student infielder Steven Smith was hit by a pitch to begin the game, sophomore utility player Riley Luft bashed a 2-run home run to left field, giving App State the lead.

The Panthers pushed a run across in the bottom of the first inning, only for senior catcher Tommy Walker to immediately restore the 2-run lead with a leadoff home run in the top of the second. Later in the inning, Steven Smith was hit in the face by a pitch and had to be assisted off the field, and he did not return for the rest of the series.

Freshman outfielder Nico Soul, playing as the designated hitter, hit an RBI double in the third inning, and graduate student infielder Joseph Zamora made it a 5-1 advantage with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.

Georgia State plated a run on an RBI single in the fifth inning but did not score for the remainder of the game as redshirt junior right-handed pitchers Nick DiRito and Max Tramontana combined to shut out the Panthers the rest of the way. DiRito racked up 11 strikeouts in his final start of the regular season, while Tramontana allowed 1 hit in four innings.

App State cemented its lead with a 7-run ninth inning. After loading the bases to start the inning, Zamora and redshirt junior first baseman Jalen Seward scored on a pair of wild pitches, then sophomore infielder Ethan Puig smacked an RBI single to make it 8-2.

The Mountaineers loaded the bases again, and redshirt freshman catcher Brooks Wright, who came into the game as a defensive replacement for Walker, hammered a grand slam to center field, the first home run of his collegiate career. Tramontana sat the Panthers down in order in the bottom of the ninth inning, securing the 12-2 win.

Georgia State evened the series Friday night, winning 4-2.

The Panthers opened the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, while the Mountaineers failed to get a runner on base in the first two innings.

App State’s fortunes turned in the third inning as Seward slapped an RBI single through the left side of the infield to tie the game, and Luft ripped an RBI double to take the lead.

The Black and Gold maintained its lead until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Panthers knocked in 2 runs on a pair of singles. Georgia State added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning and thwarted a comeback bid in the ninth by the Mountaineers, who had two runners in scoring position with one out.

The series finale Saturday was another low-scoring affair as the pitching excelled on the mound. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Conner Barozzino had the best start of his career, allowing only 1 run in a career-long 5 innings of work.

App State opened the scoring in the fourth inning with a 2-run shot to left field by Seward, his fourth home run of the season.

Senior outfielder Tank Yaghoubi was hit in the hand later in the inning and removed from the game shortly after.

The Panthers answered Seward’s blast with a solo home run of their own in the fifth inning, but the Mountaineers held the lead heading to the final three innings.

App State’s defense turned 3 double plays in the first 6 innings but committed errors in the seventh and eighth innings that led to runs for Georgia State. Zamora bobbled a ground ball in the seventh that allowed a runner to advance to third base, and the Panthers executed a sacrifice bunt to perfection to tie the game. 

Freshman catcher Colton Denton made an errant throw to second base in the eighth inning on a stolen base attempt, and the Panthers scored the go-ahead run on another sacrifice bunt to take their first lead of the game.

The Black and Gold were unable to respond in the ninth inning, and Georgia State won 3-2 to take the series.

App State finished the regular season with a 30-22 overall record and 17 wins in conference play, the most in program history. The Mountaineers face No. 6 seed Texas State at 10 a.m. EST Wednesday at DABOS Park in Montgomery, Alabama to begin their run in the Sun Belt Championship tournament.