By Jacob Plecker. RALEIGH, N.C. – After numerous delays and time changes, the App State Mountaineers finally took the field at the Wolfpack Classic and struck for four runs in the first inning to jump in front early against the Cleveland State Vikings. Then, Sejal Neas took over in the circle and mowed down the Viking bats, leading the Mountaineers to a 4-2 win on Friday.

The Vikings (2-4) struck first with an RBI single, but six straight baserunners in the bottom of the inning allowed the Mountaineers (5-4) to plate a four-spot in the inning to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Two-RBI singles by both Peyton Darnell and Olivia Cook helped spark the Black and Gold to the crooked number in the first.

With a lead after her first inning of work, Sejal Neas pitched marvelously en route to her second win of the season. Overall, Neas left six runners on base while also retiring 14 of the final 15 batters she faced to close the game. She was resilient all game in the circle as she escaped multiple jams, including stranding two in scoring position in the second inning to keep the Vikings off the board.

The Mountaineer offense loaded the bases in two separate innings and had at least one runner on in every inning, putting pressure on the Vikings all game. Six different players recorded at least one hit in the weekend-opener with Kayt Houston’s two-hit day leading the way.

How it Happened

In Neas’ fourth start of the season, it was Cleveland State who got the scoring started on Friday as they strung together a pair of hits to open play. Neas bounced back strongly after allowing the run, tallying her first of five strikeouts on the game to end the inning.

Neas’ strikeout to limit the damage proved vital as the Mountaineer offense immediately paid off her work with four first-inning runs. First, it was Houston who roped a single into left field to start the game and Grace Barrett reached first on a fielder’s choice to put two runners on with no one out. Darnell then stepped to the plate and cleared the bases with a hard-hit single into the center that scored Houston. Barrett came around to score on the play as well, using aggressive baserunning to capitalize on a Viking error to give App State the lead.

Walks to both Killian Roberts and Taylor Thorp loaded the bases in the first inning for Olivia Cook, who delivered a single into right that plated two. Cook’s opposite-field approach helped drive in her sixth and seventh runs this year.

The Vikings eventually got out of the inning, but six baserunners, three hits and four runs from the Mountaineers gave App State its first lead of the game after one.

Now with the lead, Neas came back out in the second and kept the Vikings at bay, stranding two runners in the inning. The Vikings’ first two runners reached base and were moved to second and third with just one out, but Neas’ ability to miss barrels led to two straight weak fly balls that ended the threat and maintained the three-run lead after two.

Fired up after Neas’s solid inning of work, Abby Cunningham drew a walk to lead off the second inning after a seven-pitch battle. Grace Barrett then singled to center and Darnell reached base for the second time of the game to load the bases for the second consecutive inning. But just as Neas did in her half of the inning, Viking starting pitcher Holzopfel stranded the bases loaded to keep the Mountaineer lead at three.

The first two Vikings reached base in the third inning, putting another runner in scoring position against Neas. Neas got the next hitter to ground the ball back to her and she calmly fired to third to get the lead runner for the first out. Despite the nice play on defense, Gilkerson singled into right field to bring in Cleveland State’s second run. Gilkerson’s single would be the second-to-last runner that reached against Neas in the game.

Neas retired the Vikings in order in the fourth inning, racking up another strikeout in the process, which allowed the Mountaineer bats to come back to the plate. Looking to add on, Houston smoked a double to the left-field fence to lead off the inning, putting a runner in scoring position with no one out. It was Houston’s eighth double of the young season.

Holzopfel did well to escape the Mountaineer rally in the fifth, but the Vikings couldn’t crack Neas in the fifth as she worked around a one-out walk to retire the side in the fifth.

After a one-out walk in the fifth, Neas settled in and retired each of the last eight hitters she saw. An eight-pitch sixth inning and a clean seventh inning capped off her fourth complete game and second win of the season.

The Mountaineers’ hot start and another solid outing from the defense helped lead App State to its fifth win in the last six games. Neas needed just 99 pitches to complete the game.

Friday Notes
Home runs
App: N/A
CSU: N/A

WP – Sejal Neas (2-2): 7 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
SV – N/A
LP – Melissa Holzopfel (2-2): 6 IP, 7 hits, 4 runs (0 earned runs), 5 walks, 5 strikeouts

Up Next
App State continues play at the Wolfpack Classic with a doubleheader on Saturday. App State will take on Iona for the first time ever in game 1 while a rematch with Cleveland State caps off the day. First pitch against Iona is slated for 1 p.m.

By Zach Smith. BOONE, N.C. — Coming off a dominant victory over Georgia State in their last outing, App State looked to build momentum with a win over Old Dominion on Feb. 22. The Mountaineers were unable to do that, falling to the Monarchs, 81-62.

App State saw three players log double-digit points. Junior Emily Carver netted a team-high 14 points, while senior Faith Alston and sophomore Alexis Black each scored 10. Rylan Moffitt and Mariah Frazier each grabbed eight rebounds, while Alston dished out six assists.

Old Dominion was led by a 17-point, eight-rebound performance from Brenda Fontana. En’Dya Buford also scored 17, while Simone Cunningham and Mimi McCollister scored 10 apiece to round out the Monarch scoring effort. Cunningham tacked on a team-best 10 rebounds to secure a double-double.

App State scored the game’s first five points before ODU took their first lead of the contest with an 8-0 run of their own. The Mountaineers countered with back-to-back three-pointers to jump back in front — but that proved to be their final lead of the evening. The Monarchs out-scored App State by eight through the rest of the first quarter, and took a five-point advantage into the second.

The second period remained a close contest.  The Mountaineers never fell behind by more than six points in the frame, bringing the game within a point on two separate occasions. Late in the half, App State had a chance to tie the contest as En’Dya Buford was called for a tech after committing a shooting foul. Behind by four, The Mountaineers knocked down three of their four shots from the stripe, securing a one-point deficit at the halftime buzzer.

Things fell apart quickly for App State out of the locker room. ODU scored 21 of the first 24 points of the second half, turning the game on its head early in the third quarter. The Mountaineers hit just two shots from the floor in the stanza, and ODU out-scored the home side by 16 in that time. 

Things didn’t get much better in the final ten minutes to play. For the second quarter in a row, App State hit just two shots from the field. Old Dominion defeated the Mountaineers by 19, securing their 19th victory on the 2023-24 campaign.

App State head coach Angel Elderkin praised the visitors for their performance, postgame.

“I say a lot ‘chance favors the aggressor,’ and I thought Old Dominion was super aggressive,” Elderkin said. “Hats off to them in terms of the job that they did defensively. Our offense has been on fire lately, and they really put that fire out tonight.”

Elderkin went on to talk about what changed out of the locker room at the start of the second half.

“Their three-point shooting ability,” Elderkin said. “They’re a team that averages five made threes [per game] and they hit us for 10. In the first quarter they came out hot. We felt good in the second quarter because we held them without one. Everything that could go wrong in the third quarter went wrong.”

“Our offense has been on fire lately, and they really put that fire out tonight”

App State saw shooting struggles for the first time in recent contests. Elderkin spoke on the cause of her team’s scoring difficulty against Old Dominion’s conference-best defense.

“I think it was a lot to do with their athleticism,” Elderkin said. “I don’t think we got as many clean, open shots, I think they’re there on the catch. They do a good job of defending the three-point line and they do a good job of just guarding the basketball.”

As a team, App State shot at just a 27 percent mark, compared to ODU’s impressive 46 percent clip. The Monarchs outrebounded the Mountaineers, 54-35, and dished out 17 assists, topping App State’s eight.

With the victory, Old Dominion are winners of four of their last five games. The Monarchs hold sole possession of fourth place in the Sun Belt, a position that would earn them a double-bye in the conference tournament. ODU travels to Atlanta Feb. 24 to face Georgia State for their last road test of the regular season. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m., and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.

App State’s loss drops them to a 7-8 record in conference play. The Mountaineers remain in position to skip the first round of the Sun Belt tournament, and need just one win or a Georgia Southern loss to secure that position. App State returns to play Feb. 24 against James Madison for Senior Day. The game is slated to tipoff at 2 p.m., and can be streamed on ESPN+.

By Jacob Plecker. NORFOLK, Va. — With Old Dominion ahead by two at the 10:10 mark in the second half, CJ Huntley’s hustle play off a missed free throw led to an open three-pointer by Terence Harcum, giving App State a one-point lead. That dagger from long distance sparked a 21-6 run from the App State Mountaineers as they raced past ODU for an 82-67 road win on Feb. 22.

App State’s (23-5, 13-2 SBC) road conference win marks win No.13 in Sun Belt play this season. That breaks the previous record for Sun Belt wins in a season set in 2021-22. It also secures the first winning season on the road for the Mountaineers since the 2009-10 campaign. With Thursday’s win over Old Dominion (6-22, 2-13 SBC), the Mountaineers are one of just 10 Division I teams with at least 23 wins.

Hartley’s hustle was all the spark the Mountaineers needed.

Terence Harcum’s 18 points after intermission fueled App State’s second-half barrage as he buried four threes in the final 20 minutes, including three in the first 10 minutes — leading to a 22-point game. Harcum has played in two games at Chartway Arena and posted 28-point and 22-point performances, giving him an average of 25 points a game in Chartway Arena in his career.

The Mountaineers buried nine of 18 threes they attempted on the night, marking the second consecutive game that App State has shot 50 percent from behind the arc. Three players hit multiple threes: Harcum, Donovan Gregory, and Myles Tate.  Harcum’s four threes were his eighth game this season with at least three made from behind the arc leads the team. App State has won 11 straight games in which they shoot at least 40 percent from three.

Offensive rebounding played a huge role in App State’s 23rd win of the season as the Mountaineers used 16 offensive rebounds to get 19 second-chance points. CJ Huntley kept multiple possessions alive in the game, picking up six offensive boards, which is a season-high.

The Mountaineers shot 50 percent (9 of 18 attempts) from behind the arc.

Overall, two players recorded double-digit rebounding performances, with Tre’Von Spillers tallying his eighth double-double of the season. His eight double-doubles this season are the most by a Mountaineer in a season since Isaac Johnson tallied eight in 2019-20.

How It Happened
It was ODU who kicked off the scoring in the Mountaineers’ final road trip of the year as Chaunce Jenkins hit a three to open play at Chartway Arena. But Spillers quickly got his night going, scoring two easy buckets to get App State on the board and tie things up at five by the 16:53 mark.

Both teams struggled to score as play hit the first media break, with neither team tallying a basket for over three minutes. Myles Tate and Christopher Mantis broke the drought. Mantis’ 3-pointer gave App State its largest lead of the game to that point, at five.

ODU retook the lead at 12-10 by the 10:06 mark of the first half but Gregory’s finish through contact in the lane brought the Mountaineers back ahead by one. The Monarchs, who have played their opponents tough recently despite the poor record, worked back ahead by three as play hit the under-eight timeout. Jenkins’ 10th point of the first half sent things to the break.

Myles Tate and Christopher Mantis broke the scoring drought.

After Jordan Marsh buried two free throws, Harcum’s first points of the game pushed the Mountaineers back ahead by two by the 4:07 mark. A put-back bucket by Spillers jumped the lead up to four as the final media timeout came. The Mountaineers were +15 in the first half with Spillers on the court, feeding off his energy on the offensive glass to get easy baskets.

The lead changed hands seven times in the first half but Spillers’ put-back gave App State the spark it needed to finish the stanza. After two free throws from Tyrone Williams, the Mountaineers scored the final four points to close the half with its largest lead of seven, capped off by Tate’s step-back three.

Three-point shooting in the first half played well for App State as 25 percent of their first-half points came via the three-ball. Gregory’s season-high two first-half threes helped fuel the Mountaineers during cold stretches as he led the way in the first half with nine.

Defensively, the Mountaineers held the Monarchs to just 34 percent from the field and 27 percent from three. Because of this, the Mountaineers took a lead into the halftime break for the 17th time this season. Heading into App State’s visit to ODU, the Mountaineers were 15-1 when leading at the half.

Despite the Monarchs scoring the first points of the final half, it was Harcum who found his rhythm. He nailed two shots from long distance almost immediately after the break to give him 10 points for the game to that point. ODU fought to trim the lead to just two by the 14:57 mark, but a third Harcum 3-pointer ballooned App State ahead by five as he started to catch fire.

App State took a three-point lead into the first media timeout of the final half but the competitiveness of the Monarchs tied the game at 50 apiece with 11:52 to go in the final frame. Despite the spurt from ODU, the Mountaineers maintained their lead at the under-12-minute break courtesy of a Spillers steal and a Marsh driving layup through contact on a sweet finish.

ODU took its first lead since the score was 23-20 in the first half, using a 13-5 run to jump back in front after a Dani Pounds dunk. A four-point possession, however, brought App State back in front as a free throw from Gregory and a hustle play that led to Harcum’s fourth three of the half gave App State the lead heading into the under-eight timeout.

Huntley’s hustle was all the spark the Mountaineers needed to build separation as App State outscored the Monarchs by 12 before the next timeout. Huntley continued to leave his mark on the game as he threw down two huge hammers consecutively during the run to give him six points. A huge alley-oop jam from Spillers capped off the big stretch by App State as he and Huntley combined to jolt Chartway Arena in the final stages of the game.

The Mountaineers jumped ahead by as much as 17 late in the game, continuing to run away from the reeling Monarchs as they went on an extended 19-2 run down the stretch. Harcum continued his second-half heroics in Norfolk as he eclipsed 20 points for the game by the 2:17 mark.

When the final horn sounded, the Mountaineers had pulled away with a 15-point victory. The win marked App State’s 15th double-digit victory of the season. It was also App State’s 13th Sun Belt victory, which is the most Sun Belt wins App State has recorded since joining the league in 2014 and the most conference wins in a season since 2009-10.

Top Performers

• For the 16th time this season, all nine players who touched the floor for the Black and Gold recorded a point.
• Additionally, four players reached double-figures, which is the 34th game in a row App State has seen multiple double-figure scorers.
• Terence Harcum’s 18-point second-half barrage paced App State as he posted a game-high 22, marking his fourth 20-point game in conference play.
• Myles Tate’s near-perfect night helped him finish with 14 points but he also recorded five assists and six rebounds. Tate needs just one more assist for 100 this season.
• Tre’Von Spillers continued to be a force down low for head coach Dustin Kerns as his 12 points and 11 rebounds marked his eighth double-double of the year. Spillers’ effort and hustle were huge as App State outscored ODU by 26 points with Spillers on the floor.

Next Up
App State heads to Huntington, W. Va., for a battle with the Marshall Thundering Herd in what will be the Mountaineers’ third nationally televised game of the season. It will also be the second meeting in the last nine days between the Mountaineers and Thundering Herd. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

By Matt Present. HIGH POINT, N.C. — The smoothness of the three-up-three-down second inning wouldn’t have signaled anything out of the ordinary, but the embraces in the dugout moments later told a different story. Using his patented curveball to get a swinging strike three to end the inning, Tyler Tuthill capped off his long-awaited return to the mound in App State’s 7-1 win over High Point.

After undergoing Tommy John surgery in July of 2022, the veteran left-hander was forced to watch the entirety of the 2023 season from the dugout. But in the fourth game of 2024, Tuthill, donning his familiar No. 21 uniform and Block A cap made his return to the bump, providing a triumphant conclusion to an arduous rehab process.

App State (3-1) already had an early lead when Tuthill entered. In fact, they led 3-0 three batters into the ballgame. CJ Boyd led off the afternoon by reaching on an infield single, and Austin St. Laurent followed with a double to the gap in left-center field. That set up Banks Tolley who launched his first home run of the season to deep left field.

Redshirt freshman Carter Boyd started the game for App State. Boyd induced three ground ball outs in the first inning, working around a hit batter, to post a scoreless frame in his first outing for the Mountaineers.

App State used the long ball again to pad their lead in the third. After a walk to Tolley led off the frame, Braxton Church cranked a two-run homer to right field, his second homer of the season, to push the advantage to 5-0.

The Mountaineers pitching staff meanwhile did not allow a hit until the sixth inning, when Cael Chatham homered off of Trey Tujetch, who had worked 2.2 scoreless innings to that point. Tujetch allowed two base runners thereafter, but App State minimized the damage as Collin Welch wiggled out of a bases loaded jam to end the frame.

Welch went on to work 1.2 scoreless innings before turning the ball over to Cody Little, who worked a scoreless eighth inning. Zach Lewis escaped a bases loaded jam in the ninth, striking out two in a scoreless frame to end the ballgame. App State pitchers allowed just three hits on the day.

Meanwhile the offense plated a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Tolley led off the inning with a double, and Drew Holderbach doubled him home later in the frame. After Holderbach advanced to third on a wild pitch, Adam Quintero lifted a sacrifice fly to center to make it 7-1.

St. Laurent led the offense with a 3-for-4 day, while Tolley reached base four times on two hits and a pair of walks.

For the third consecutive season, App State will host a game in Hickory, as it faces off with Siena in a three-game weekend series, Feb. 23-25. First pitch on Friday is set for 3 p.m. with action on Saturday and Sunday slated to begin at 1 p.m. All three games will feature an audio broadcast on appstatesports.com.