The Mountaineers traveled to Johnson City, Tennessee, to face the East Tennessee State Buccaneers Tuesday afternoon.
The game started out rough for the Mountaineers, allowing three runs in the first inning.
The Mountaineers managed to comeback and tie the game 4-4 in the third inning on a ground-rule double by junior catcher Braxton Church.
The Buccaneers reestablished a 6-4 lead after a two-run sixth inning, scoring on a wild pitch and a RBI groundout.
The Mountaineers tied the game at six off a two-run shot from senior outfielder CJ Boyd in the seventh inning. Then, they took their first lead on a double from senior outfielder Banks Tolley, who scored later in the inning on a wild pitch to extend the Mountaineers’ lead to 8-6.
The Black and Gold scored their final run on a solo shot from Tolley to make the final score 9-6.
“There’s just never really a doubt man, I mean we have so many guys who are so talented,” Tolley said. “If you had come in the dugout when we were down 4-1 you wouldn’t be able to tell what the score is, we were not hitting the panic button and we were cruising.”
Tolley and Boyd had standout games with Tolley batting 3 for 5, with a homer and three RBIs and Boyd batting 2 for 3 with a homer, two walks and two RBIs.
“The guys kept missing middle and luckily I wasn’t missing the barrel,” Tolley said. “Kind of been working on some stuff in the cage, kind of something clicked in the past few days.”
The pitching staff put together a mediocre performance, giving up runs early, but stepped up late when it mattered.
Redshirt freshman pitcher Carter Boyd started out the game, lasting only an inning while giving up three runs before being relieved by graduate student pitcher Tyler Tuthill.
Tuthill played for two innings without allowing an earned run and tallied two strikeouts before being relieved by senior pitcher Trey Tujetsch.
Tujetsch pitched 2.2 innings, allowing two runs and four hits before being subbed out for senior pitcher Grey LaSpaluto.
LaSpaluto played 2.1 innings without allowing a run and was credited with the win before being replaced by redshirt sophomore pitcher Zach Lewis.
Lewis pitched one scoreless inning to finish out the game and earned the save, his fifth-straight scoreless appearance to start the year.
This win brought the Mountaineers’ record to 7-1 to start the year and extended their current winning streak to six.
App State will return to the field Friday at 7 p.m. in Carbondale, Illinois to face Southern Illinois.
