MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia baseball team hits the road this week for five games in North Carolina, beginning with a pair against Appalachian State on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The times for the two games have been shuffled around due to weather with Tuesday’s game starting at 2 p.m. and Wednesday’s contest at 3 p.m. Tuesday’s game will be played at L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory while Wednesday’s game will be played on App State’s campus at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

In a battle of the Mountaineers, App State has the only win in the series, a 6-0 win in Columbus, Ohio, back in 1995.

West Virginia is coming off a 4-0 week at home, defeating Canisius on Wednesday before sweeping Minnesota over the weekend.

Redshirt-senior Tevin Tucker had one of his best weeks of his WVU career as he hit .700 (7-for-10) with an .813 on-base percentage. On the basepaths, he also had four steals and scored eight runs.

For the season, sophomore JJ Wetherholt leads Mountaineers with a .446 batting average, five home runs, 16 RBI, and 14 stolen bases. Caleb McNeely has four home runs and is batting .349 with a 1.212 OPS.

Sophomore Aidan Major will get his first start of the season on Tuesday. In six appearances this season, he has thrown 4.0 innings with six strikeouts. Freshman Gavin Van Kempen will get the ball on Wednesday after earning his first-career win last week against Canisius, striking out eight in 5.1 innings.

App State enters the week with an 8-5 record after dropping two to No. 24 Campbell over the weekend. In his 7th season at App State, Kermit Smith is 119-178. In 22 seasons as a head coach, he owns a 591-538-1 record with stops at Lander and Belmont Abbey.

Hayden Cross leads the Mountaineers with a .436 batting average and 18 RBI while Golston Gillespie and Dylan Rogers have a team-high three home runs. Trey Tujetsch will get the start on Tuesday and owns a 2.31 ERA with seven strikeouts

App State was picked to finish 12th the Sun Belt after finishing 9th in 2022.