Matt Andress brings a team-best 4-1 record into this weekend's series versus first-place Charleston (photo courtesy of Marc DeRose) Game statistics

High-Powered Offenses Collide This Weekend at Smith Stadium
by Appalachian Sports Information

April 3, 2008 - The scoreboard operator is expected to be busy this weekend at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium when Appalachian State University baseball hosts four-time-defending Southern Conference champion College of Charleston for a critical three-game Southern Conference series. Game times are set for 4 p.m. Friday (note time change due to forecast for evening rain), 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Smith Stadium, located behind the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center on the ASU campus.

The three-game series pits two of the SoCon’s most powerful offenses in Appalachian (15-14, 1-5 SoCon) and first-place Charleston (19-9, 5-1 SoCon). C of C leads the nation (rankings through last weekend’s games) in six different offensive categories, including scoring (11.6 runs per game), hits (350), doubles (81) and home runs (56). ASU also ranks among the nation’s leaders in several offensive categories, including runs (22nd – 8.1 per game) and hits (21st – 301).

Headlining the potent hitting attacks are Charleston’s Gabe Marchant and Michael Harrington and Appalachian’s Jason Altenhof and Jason Rook. Marchant leads the SoCon in runs (43) and home runs (11) while ranking second in RBI (41) and slugging percentage (.798). Harrington is behind only Marchant with 10 home runs and is tied with his teammate for second in the league rankings with 41 RBI.

Not to be outdone, Altenhof and Rook both rank among the SoCon’s top 10 in hitting (.388 and .386, good for sixth and seventh, respectively). Altenhof also ranks among the conference’s leaders in on-base percentage (.500), runs (32), hits (45) and walks (24) while Rook leads the league with five triples, which is just one shy of ASU’s all-time single-season record.

While the Mountaineers and Cougars rank sixth and eighth in the 10-team league, respectively, in earned run average (ASU – 6.70; C of C 7.14), the team’s boast perhaps the most powerful pitching staffs in the league as they rank one-two in strikeouts (238 for C of C, 230 for ASU).

Appalachian does have a decided advantage in fielding percentage, as it ranks 14th nationally with a .973 fielding percentage and Charleston comes in at just 108th with a .963 percentage.

The Mountaineers come into the weekend in search of their first regular-season victory over the Cougars in five years. Despite dropping 12-straight regular-season decisions, the Apps do have the most-recent victory in the series, an 11-10 come-from-behind triumph in last year’s SoCon Tournament in Charleston that eliminated the top-seeded Cougars from the tournament and likely cost them an NCAA Regional bid.

The Appalachian ISP Sports Network will broadcast all three games of this weekend’s series with the “Voice of the Mountaineers” David Jackson and Drew Branyon calling all of the action from Smith Stadium. Fans can tune in locally on WATA 1450 AM and worldwide by clicking on the Live Audio button above.

APPALACHIAN (15-14, 1-5 SoCon) vs. COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (19-9, 5-1 SoCon)
BEAVER FIELD AT JIM AND BETTIE SMITH STADIUM (BOONE, N.C.)
Friday, April 4 • 4 p.m.
ASU RHP Josh Dowdy (1-5, 6.61 ERA) vs. C of C RHP Danny Meszaros (2-2, 7.26 ERA)
Saturday, April 5 • 3 p.m.
ASU RHP Matt Andress (4-1, 5.40 ERA) vs. C of C LHP Austin Garrett (5-0, 5.56 ERA)
Sunday, April 6 • 1 p.m.
ASU TBA vs. C of C RHP Jake Goldberg (1-2, 5.46 ERA)