App State baseball swept a weekend series at home against Georgia Southern University, scoring 36 runs in three games.
Game one was a rout for the Mountaineers, winning 16-3. The Black and Gold scored 3 runs in the first, capped off by a 2-run home run from junior designated hitter Kameron Miller.
App State piled on the runs early. Miller hit his second homer of the game in the third inning, giving the Mountaineers a 5-2 lead. In the following inning, he smashed his third of the game.
Graduate student infielder Joseph Zamora drove in 2 runs with a double to give the Black and Gold a 10-run lead, and after the Eagles got 1 back, freshman catcher Colton Denton drove in 2 more with a single, making it a 14-3 game.
The Mountaineers added 2 more runs, and the game was called after seven innings. Miller had 4 hits and 4 RBIs in the game.
“We know our strengths,” Miller said. “If we can go out every single day and focus on our strengths and get better at that and beat people’s weaknesses, we’ll be in a good spot.”
Game two was pushed back due to weather, but it did not stop the App State offense. After going down 3-0 in the first, redshirt junior first baseman Jalen Seward tied it with a 2-run blast in the bottom of the second.
The Mountaineers scored 3 runs in the fourth to take the lead on 2 RBI singles from sophomore right fielder Riley Luft and sophomore third baseman Ethan Puig, as well as a sacrifice fly from Miller.
Georgia Southern added 1 in the top of the fifth, but the Mountaineers scored 2 in the bottom half of the inning. In the eighth inning, junior left fielder Drew DuPont doubled home a runner, and graduate student infielder Steven Smith drove in 2 more on a double of his own.
Redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Max Tramontana allowed just 1 hit over 2.1 innings to shut down the Eagles, and the Mountaineers won 11-5.
“Coaches do a phenomenal job of putting us in a good position to be successful,” Miller said. “Just from an offensive standpoint, just one through nine, just being relentless, and then going out there and sticking to the approach.”
Georgia Southern grabbed the first 2 runs of the game in the series finale. App State got on the board through a single from senior center fielder Charlie Evans.
The Eagles were leading 3-1, but App State tied it on a single from senior infielder Jake Mummau and a sacrifice fly from senior catcher Tommy Walker. Soon after, the Black and Gold took the lead on a double from DuPont.
Puig grounded out in the fourth, but the groundout scored another run to make it 5-3. Another RBI groundout made it 6-3, this time from Evans.
The Georgia Southern pitching staff was struggling with its command as Walker walked to score a run, the 10th free pass the Eagles had issued.
App State’s bullpen threw 6.1 scoreless innings to close out the series sweep against the Eagles, winning 7-3.
“It’s one of the components in college baseball, in major league baseball as well,” head coach Kermit Smith said. “If you don’t have a good bullpen, you’re gonna be in trouble.”
The Mountaineers are now tied for second in the conference after the sweep of the Eagles with nine games left.
