By David Rogers. MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Southern Mississippi rapped out 15 hits in the Sun Belt Conference semifinal elimination game on May 27, six of them doubles, as the Golden Eagles advanced into the May 28 conference tournament championship game with a dominating, 11-1, run-rule win over Appalachian State.
After being dumped into the loser’s bracket earlier in the tournament by top-seeded Coastal Carolina, No. 4 Louisiana rallied back in the double elimination tournament to reach the semifnals where they exacted a measure of revenge by winning both May 27 games against the previously unbeaten Chanticleers, 7-3 and 4-1.
Photo courtesy of Sun Belt Conference.
The Ragin’ Cajuns’ upset wins setup a May 28 matchup vs. No. 2 seeded Southern Miss at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time in the Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship at Riverwalk Stadium.
Like Louisiana, the Mountaineers lost a first round game (to Troy) and had to battle back with wins over both Troy and James Madison to gain the semifinals vs. Southern Miss. They did it with hot offensive production that included a 10-run sixth inning on May 26 to topple Troy, 14-10.
Led by C J Boyd’s 19-game hitting streak and Xavier Moronta’s 20-game hitting streak, the Mountaineers produced 31 runs on 45 hits in the first three games of the SBC tournament. A masterful pitching performance by four Mountaineer pitchers in a 4-2 morning win over Southern Miss in the May 27, semifinal morning game, not only required the second, afternoon semifinal game to decide who would advance into the championship final on Sunday, but represented the 30th win of the season for the Mountaineers. That matched the last 30-win season recorded by the Mountaineers in 2013. The program record is 41 wins in 2012.
Among the most important of the record-breaking statistics for App State baseball in 2023 was record home attendance: more than 13,000 this spring, including a single-game home attendance record of 1,376 when Wake Forest came to town on April 11.
By David Rogers. MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Masterful pitching and timely hitting ruled the day at Riverwalk Stadium on the morning of May 27, with No. 6 seeded Appalachian State upsetting the previously unbeaten (in the Sun Belt tournament) No. 2 seed, Southern Miss, 4-2.
Come tournament time and a team’s extended survival in the double elimination format, pitching management becomes all important. Mountaineer head coach Kermit Smith and pitching coach Justin Aspegren seemed to know exactly how far their stable of hurlers could each go without overworking them and getting into trouble against the Golden Eagles’ hot bats.
Jackson Steensma (33) celebrates the App State win over Southern Miss on May 27 at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala. Photo by A J Henderson, Sun Belt Conference, courtesy of App State Sports
Combined, four Mountaineer pitchers gave up just two runs on five hits and struck out seven. The Golden Eagles managed just two extra base hits, a double and a home run in the top of the 3rd inning to account for their only runs scored in the game. Grey LaSpaluto (2-2), the first to relieve starter Seth Whitley, was credited with the win. The big (6-4, 256 lbs.) freshman righthander, Jackson Steensma picked up his seventh save of the year.
Meanwhile, C.J. Boyd extended his hitting streak to 18 games, rapping out three hits in five at-bats, including a double and a pair of singles. Xavier Moronta went 2-4, including a double into the right field corner in the third inning, after which he scored a run on a single to right by Hayden Cross. Moronta also picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Andrew Terrell tagging up from third base in the 4th inning.
App State added another couple of runs in the bottom of the 6th inning. Boyd rapped a bases loaded single through middle to center, scoring Alex Reed, who had led off the inning with a single. Still with the bases loaded, Luke Drumheller lofted another sacrifice fly to center, allowing Hunter Wilder to tag up and score from third.
“We’re going to have a dogfight this afternoon,” said App State head coach Kermit Smith in his post-game press conference about the semifinals elimination game vs. Southern Miss later in the day. “Southern Miss has a great baseball program. I have a ton of respect for those guys, how they play, and their physicality. I am tremendously proud of our guys today, too (by forcing the elimination game with the morning’s win).”
Before the game, Appalachian State sported a No. 89 RPI ranking in NCAA Division I baseball, out of 305 ranked programs, according to the NCAA. The Sun Belt’s Coastal Carolina was at No. 12, Southern Miss No. 21, and Troy No. 39.
With the win, Appalachian State and Southern Miss will square off again on Saturday afternoon (May 27) to determine which team advances to the championship final. The game is scheduled for 5 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, and will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The winner will face the survivor of the No. 4 Louisiana vs. No. 1 Coastal Carolina matchup in the other half of the semifinals.
By David Rogers. MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Down 7-0 against No. 3 seeded Troy in the May 26 “elimination game” for the Sun Belt Conference championship baseball tournament, Appalachian State was neither done nor done in. In fact, the No. 6 seeded Mountaineers were just getting started en route to an upset win over the Trojans, 14-10.
There is an old Three Dog Night song suggesting that “one is the loneliest number.” That may very well be true, but put a zero behind it — such as the 10 runs App State scored in the 6th inning — and “one” becomes a beautiful number indeed, a “10” even, if you will.
Hunter Wilder slides across home plate on May 26 during App State’s come-from-behind win over Troy to advance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala. Photo by A J Henderson, Sun Belt Conference, courtesy of App State Sports
The Mountaineers’ offensive half of the 4th inning was the ignition point. Three singles by Hayden Cross, Austin St. Laurent, and Alex Reed loaded the bases for Andrew Terrell, who worked the pitch count to 3-2 before earning an RBI walk, scoring Cross and keeping the bases loaded with just one out. We will hear more about C J Boyd’s offensive exploits later, but on this particular at-bat he singled straight to center field, allowing both Reed and St. Laurent to cross the plate, ratcheting down the deficit to 7-3.
After Mountaineer reliever Eli Ellington blanked the Trojans in the fifth frame and combined with Zach Lewis to shut out the Alabamans in the 6th inning, App State reached a pivot point. They batted around in the bottom of the 6th, scoring a whopping 10 runs that would eventually make Lewis the winning pitcher of record — even though he only face two batters, getting the final two outs of the top half of the 6th inning.
Andrew Terrell (3) slides into second base with a successful steal on May 26, vs. Troy, in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala. Photo by A J Henderson, Sun Belt Conference, courtesy of App State Sports
App State’s offensive eruption included Hunter Wilder scoring on a wild pitch, Terrell being forced home from third on a bases loaded walk, a 2-RBI triple off the bat of Alex Reed, a 2-RBI single by Terrell (his second single of the inning), and a 2-RBI home run by Boyd. For an encored, Boyd hammered a second home run in the 8th inning, a solo shot over the left field fence.
In the press conference that followed, Mountaineer head coach pointed out that playing Troy five times just since the first one on May 18 meant that the two teams were pretty familiar with each other and all of the contests were pretty close, with all but one being high scoring affairs.
“We have two different styles of play but when those two styles match up we seem to have very dynamic baseball games,” said Smith. “I am very proud of our guys’ resiliency.”
With the loss, Troy is eliminated from the tournament after also losing to Southern Miss on May 25, while App State advances to the semifinal round where they will face the No. 2-seeded Golden Eagles of Southern Miss at 10 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time, at Riverwalk Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Since Southern Miss and Coastal Carolina have yet to lose in the double elimination tournament, if either of them should lose in the the morning game, they will play a second, elimination game on Saturday afternoon. The top-seeded Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina will take on the No. 4 seed, Louisiana, in the second semifinal matchup, currently scheduled for 1:30 p.m. EDT.
By David Rogers. MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Four Mountaineers enjoyed a multi-hit game on May 25, in an 8-7 App State win over No. 7 seeded James Madison in an elimination game of the Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament.
Sunny, 72-degree weather greeted the Dukes and Mountaineers at Riverwalk Stadium. App State was designated as the home team, with Dante Chirico taking the mound as the starting pitcher. The junior righthander blanked the Dukes in the first three innings before giving up three runs on three hits in the 4th inning, including a 2-run home run to the Dukes catcher, Jason Schiavone.
Chirico went a total of 5.1 innings in the start, throwing a total of 78 pitches, giving up the three runs on four hits, walking four and striking out three over that span.
Meanwhile, the Mountaineer offense got things going in the 3rd inning, capitalizing on doubles by C J Boyd and Luke Drumheller, followed by a run-scoring single off the bat of Hayden Cross to take an early, 2-0 lead. Although the Dukes countered with their three runs in the top of the 4th, App State came right back with another pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning to jump back out in the lead. Austin St. Laurent rapped the Mountaineers’ third double of the day and Hunter Wilder rapped a single up the middle to bring him home, Wilder taking second on the late throw to the plate.
Andrew Terrell followed with a ground out to the shortstop, but Wilder advanced to third on the play. Then, in a daring move with two outs, Boyd showed off his versatility with a push bunt to the awkward gap between the pitcher’s mound and first base. Wilder raced home and the run counted when Boyd beat out the play at first base that otherwise would have been the inning’s final out. As it was, App State finished the inning with a tenuous, 4-3 lead.
The Mountaineers expanded their lead in the bottom of the 5th inning, manufacturing a run with a single by Drumheller and a walk to Cross before St. Laurent sliced a single through the left side, Drumheller scoring.
JMU knotted the score at 5-5 with a pair of runs in the top of the 7th inning, but the Mountaineers took command with three runs in the bottom of the 8th when Andrew Terrell opened the frame with a single and stole second, scoring on another Drumheller double. That nudged App State ahead, 6-5, but Cross launched a shot over the right field fence for some insurance runs, the Mountaineers leading 8-5 going into the ninth inning.
And those extra insurance runs proved valuable, because the Dukes were able to score two in the top half of the ninth but it was not enough when little used App State relief pitcher Jeriah Henry retired the side on two fly-outs to end JMU’s scoring threat.
With the win, App State advances to another elimination game, facing the loser of Thursday’s evening matchup between No. 3 Troy and No. 2 Southern Mississippi.
By David Rogers. MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Sometimes, baseball seems like a chess match, with moves and counter moves. A 4-run explosion at the top of the 9th inning to take a 2-run was not quite enough for Appalachian State on May 24, in Game 3 of the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament.
With two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Troy’s Tremayne Cobb, Jr. slugged a 2-run home run to tie the game at 9-9 then, in the bottom of the 10th, outfielder Kole Myers ripped a double to the fence through the gap in left center for the Trojans, plating teammate Kyle Mock in the process. That timely hitting gave the No. 3 seeded Alabamans a 10-9 win over the No. 6-seeded Mountaineers.
App State opened the slugfest scoring with a home run by Luke Drumheller in the first inning and a pair of dingers in the 5th inning, a solo shot by Alex Reed down the right field line, followed by a 2-run rocket launch by C J Boyd over the left field fence. For Boyd, it was his 15th home run of the 2023 season, tying him with Golston Gillespie for the team lead in that statistical category. Gillespie, usually the cleanup hitter in batting order has 50 RBIs for the season, Boyd 47 (and most often the leadoff hitter).
While the Mountaineers were ahead 5-0 after the top of the fifth inning, Troy rallied in the middle innings (5th, 6th and 7th) to take a 7-5 lead going into the 8th inning. Their offensive outburst included a 3-run HR by Brooks Bryan, an RBI single off the bat of catcher Caleb Bartolero, and a run-scoring sacrifice fly by William Sullivan in the bottom of the 5th inning.
The Trojans manufactured a couple of unearned runs on a pair of Mountaineer fielding errors in the 6th inning, before Bartolero showed off some power with a solo home run in the bottom half of the 7th inning.
Trailing 7-5 in what would be their last at-bat before extra innings, App State’s Drumheller lofted an RBI sacrifice fly to left to score Boyd in the top half of the 9th. Then, still trailing 7-6 down to their last out, the Mountaineers loaded the bases and forced in a run when Alex Reed was hit by a pitch from Troy’s all-Sun Belt reliever Noah Manning. Jonathan Xuereb followed with a bases loaded hopper through the right side, scoring Gillespie and Hayden Cross, giving the Mountaineers a 9-7 advantage going into the bottom half of the ninth inning.
App State freshman relief ace Jackson Steensma took the mound and promptly gave up a single to Bartolero, but then looked to get out of the inning with two consecutive outs, including a 3-pitch strikeout. Troy looked doomed until Cobb drove the first pitch over the left field wall, scoring Bartolero ahead of himself to tie the game and send the affair into extra innings.
In the top half of the 10, Drumheller scalded a 2-out single to right and made a gutsy steal of second to put a Mountaineer runner in scoring position, but Cross was unable to convert, grounding out to 2nd base.
It was a game of musical chairs and changing positions for both teams, especially the Mountaineers. Junior Grey LaSpaluto entered the game as a pinch runner in the 9th inning, went to left field to start the 10th, defensively, but then was called in to pitch for App State after Steensma hit a batter, Mock. LaSpaluto walked the next Troy batter, Clay Stearns, before Myers hit a 1-2 pitch through the gap in left center to score Mock with the winning run.
With the win, Troy will advance to play the winner of Game 4 between No. 7 seed James Madison and No. 2 Southern Miss. App State will play the loser of that game in the double elimination tournament.
By David Rogers. TROY, Ala. — Three home runs, including a first inning grand slam by Golston Gillespie and a 3-run shot in the sixth frame off the bat of Luke Drumheller, highlighted the potent offensive effort of App State on May 20, defeating host Troy, 12-8, and securing the coveted No. 6 seed in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament.
After the Mountaineers’ 5-run effort in the first two innings, Troy rallied back for seven unanswered runs, including a 5-run fourth inning that gave the hosts a 7-5 lead. Undeterred, App State cut the deficit in half in the 5th inning on an RBI triple ripped through the gap in right center by Dylan Rogers, scoring Hayden Cross.
An inning later, the Mountaineers erupted for four runs. The rally got started with a single by Austin St. Laurent, who scored moments later on a fielding error by Troy. Then Drumheller broke things open with his 3-run shot to put the High Country visitors ahead to stay.
App State got late innings relief pitching help from freshman Jackson Steensma, hurling 4.1 innings, allowing only one run on three hits while striking out eight of the 17 batters he faced.
Earning the No. 6 finish in the Sun Belt regular season standings means the Mountaineers avoid the “play-in” round of the championship tournament. Instead, they will face the No. 3 seed, Troy, on Wednesday, May 24, 10 a.m., in Montgomery, Ala.’s Riverwalk Stadium.
By Joey Jones for App State Sports. PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – In its final match of the 2023 season, App State women’s tennis capped its first postseason appearance with a 4-0 victory over the University of California-San Diego in Thursday’s consolation draw of the inaugural Universal Tennis NIT Championship.
The Mountaineers finished the campaign with a 14-9 overall record and were tied for third in the final Sun Belt standings. The 14 wins are tied for the second-most in a season in program history.
A day after falling short of a comeback attempt against No. 70 Wyoming, head coach Ashleigh Antal’s squad bounced back admirably indoors against the Tritons (10-16).
App State’s No. 1 and No. 2 doubles tandems got the day started. At No. 1, Savannah Dada-Mascoll and Ellie Murphy won 6-2, while at No. 2, Helena Jansen and Erika Dodridge teamed up for a 7-6 (7-3) tiebreaker victory.
It was a quick sweep at singles courts 1, 2 and 3 that sealed the deal. Dada-Mascoll was first in the win column with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph at No. 2, followed by Jansen with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 1, and then Maggie Pate with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 3.
Other App State competitors included Brooke Demerath and Olwyn Ryan-Bovey.
App State will say farewell to outgoing seniors Dodridge, Jansen and Virginia Poggi heading into next year.
By Matt Present. TROY, Ala. – App State fell to Troy in the middle game of the series at Riddle-Pace Field, 7-5, in a back-and-forth ballgame Friday night.
CJ Boyd led the game off with his ninth home run in the last ten games giving the Mountaineers an early lead. The 1-0 ballgame would last until the sixth inning when Hayden Cross reached on a leadoff double, and made his way to third after a wild pitch. Golston Gillespie then hit an RBI single to right field, putting the Mountaineers up 2-0.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Trojans took the lead, 3-2, on a pair of home runs in the inning. However, the Mountaineers answered right back. A leadoff walk for Austin St. Laurent and a single from Boyd put ducks on the pond for Xavier Moronta, and he hit a three-run homer down the right field line, putting App State in front 5-3.
In the eighth inning, the Trojans delivered the final blow, scoring four runs in the frame to take a 7-5 lead.
The Trojans had little offense to start and had five straight scoreless innings against Dante Chirico. Chirico allowed only four hits and one walk across his five innings pitched.
Jackson Steensma also performed well on the mound after coming in with two runners in scoring position in the eighth and striking out his only batter faced.
At the plate the Mountaineers put up eight hits as a team. Boyd led the team going 4-for-5 on the night, while Gillespie finished 2-for-3. Moronta also extended his hitting streak to 15 consecutive games.
The series finale between these two teams will be played on Saturday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. ET.
TROY, Ala. – CJ Boyd hit his eighth home run in his last nine games, but the Mountaineers offense was held in check Thursday night, as App State fell 3-2 to Troy in the series opener at Riddle-Pace Field.
After the Trojans scored all three runs in the second inning, Boyd was quick to answer, launching a solo home run to left, his 13th of the season, in the top of the third inning to make it a 3-1 ballgame.
The Mountaineers (26-22, 15-12) added one more run in the fourth. Luke Drumheller worked a four-pitch walk to begin the inning, and Hayden Cross reached on an infield single. With one out, Dylan Rogers came through with an RBI single through the left side to make it 3-2.
The Trojans did little damage against starter Xander Hamilton (loss, 8-3) outside of the second inning. Hamilton finished by going five innings, allowing three runs on six hits, he walked two and struck out six to give him 109 strikeouts on the season. Hamilton retired 10 of the final 14 batters he faced.
Collin Welch took over for Hamilton in the sixth inning, and was superb in relief. Welch struck out five batters over three innings of work, allowing just two baserunners. The tandem combined to issue just one walk on the night.
At the plate, however, the Mountaineers were held to just five hits on the night. Rogers led the way with a two-hit outing, while Xavier Moronta went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 14 consecutive games.
The teams will reconvene on Friday for the middle game of the three-game set with first pitch slated for 7 p.m,
By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — App State third baseman Andrew Terrell will not soon forget his last at-bat in the last home baseball game of his college career in Smith Stadium: a walk-off, grand slam home run on Mother’s Day, with his mother and grandmother in the stands, powering the Mountaineers to a dominating, 16-4 win and weekend series sweep over the Red Wolves of Arkansas State.
The end-of-game drama all but overshadowed C.J. Boyd’s career day at the plate. The sophomore from Lewisville, N.C. (Reagan High School) got four hits in five at-bats, including two home runs, a double, four runs scored and four RBIs.
C J Boyd crosses the plate after hitting one of two home runs on May 14 in the Mountaineers’ 16-4, run-rule win over Arkansas State in Smith Stadium. Photographic image by David Rogers
Giving up consecutive home runs and a double in the first inning may not have been the Sunday start that Mountaineer starting pitcher Caleb Cross (5-3) preferred, but the junior righthander settled down and kept the Red Wolves at bay, giving up just those two, first inning runs and only three more hits across six innings’ on the mound.
Notably, led by Boyd’s hot bat, Cross got error-free defensive help and solid offensive production from his fellow Mountaineers. They took advantage of miscues by Arkansas State, whose pitchers had a hard time getting the ball across the 14 inches of hard rubber called, “home plate.” The Red Wolves pitchers issued 10 walks, hit two batters, and hurled three wild pitches in the seven inning, abbreviated affair that was stopped by run-rule.
In the bottom half of the first inning, down 2-0, Boyd got things started with a leadoff home run over the left field fence to cut the deficit in half. In the second inning, he knocked in another run with a 1-out double to the left centerfield fence, scoring Jonathan Xuereb and sending Terrell to third.
The Mountaineers were ‘running amok’ in their May 14 win over Arkansas State before Andrew Terrell’s walk-off home run in the 7th inning to ‘run rule’ the game. Photographic image by David Rogers
With runners on second and third, Xavier Moronta rapped a single to right, scoring Terrell, with Boyd stopping at third base. He scored the third run of the inning a few moments later on a wild pitch by Arkansas State starter, Tyler Jeans (2-5).
It wasn’t until the bottom of the 4th inning that the Mountaineers struck again, and it was Boyd again who got things started with a 2-run shot over the left field fence. Consecutive singles by Luke Drumheller and Alex Reed were followed by a full count walk to App State power hitter, Golston Gillespie, loading the bases.
The next batter, right fielder Dylan Rogers, didn’t waste any time by ripping a double to the gap in right center. The ball made it all the way to the fence before being retrieved by a Red Wolves outfielder. The hit tallied two more runs for the Mountaineers, with Reed and Drumheller crossing the plate easily.
Arkansas State replaced starting pitcher Jeans with Michael Finan, who stopped the bleeding and got the final two outs of the inning. The damage had been done, though, with the Mountaineers sporting a convincing, 8-2 lead.
Finan only gave up one hit and no runs in his 2.2 innings of work, but he showed signs of fatigue and control problems when he gave up a double down the right field line and hit another batter, Braxton Church, in the 6th inning. It was enough for A-State head coach Tommy Raffo to make pitching change heading into the decisive 7th.
Oops. That ball sailing down the right field line means trouble for the Arkansas State Red Wolves and scoring opportunity for the Mountaineers of Appalachian State on May 14. Photographic image by David Rogers
The Red Wolves used four pitchers in the seventh inning, none of whom seemed to have control of their pitches. Arkansas State reliever Bryson Schares started the inning and showed promise, getting the first two outs of the inning, but then the wheels started coming off for the Red Wolves. Boyd had singled through the left side earlier, between those first two outs, but when a pickoff attempt went flying down the right field line, the Mountaineer centerfielder advanced all the way to third base, then scored on another one of those wild pitches.
Alex Reed followed with a ground rule double to the gap between center and right, the ball bouncing over the fence and out of play.
Schares faced just five Mountaineer batters before being yanked in favor of Austin Brock. The senior lefty faced just two batters, allowing two runs on no hits (two walks) before Raffo went to his bullpen again, this time bringing on a towering (6-7) junior, James McCormick. The junior college transfer and former high school MVP of the Arkansas state tournament didn’t fare any better, facing just two Mountaineers. He faced only two batters, walking one and hitting another, forcing in two runs on no hits. It prompted Raffo to call on his fourth pitcher of the inning, Grayson Becker, who faced only one batter. He got his only pitch over the plate, but Terrell took advantage, smashing it over the left centerfield fence for the grand slam finale.
Making good contact is App State designated hitter Alex Reed on May 14 at Smith Stadium in the Mountaineers’ 16-4 win. Reed was 2-5 on the day, including a double, with 2 runs scored. Photographic image by David Rogers
Having fun with the moment, after the game Terrell told High Country Sports about the bases-loaded situation he found himself in, “I didn’t want to stay here any longer, so I was trying to walk it off, for sure. I had a date with my mother and had to treat her right.”
Terrell added, “This was just an awesome weekend, Senior Weekend. To have my final at-bat in this stadium, my first grand slam home run, it was pretty cool.”
Boyd was succinct in talking about his performance at the plate.
“Just keeping things slow, see the ball and hit it hard wherever you can,” said Boyd. “As a team, we are all about protecting the ‘middle 14’ (over home plate).
“Whenever we get down…We have so much trust in our pitching staff,” said Boyd, “and with our offense, you see what we can do. We put up double digits in almost every single game.”
Golston Gillespie (26) slides into second with a double on May 14. Photographic image by David Rogers
Mountaineer head coach Kermit Smith was complimentary of starting pitcher Caleb Cross, who gave up the early runs but then buckled down and shut out the Red Wolves for the next five innings.
“It speaks more to Caleb’s competitiveness and his character,” said Smith. “It says a lot about our team, too. C.J. (Boyd) comes out a gets a home run to settle things down and cut the deficit. The we took the lead in the next inning. You keep competing like that and it helped Caleb settle down, too.”
The Red Wolves scored a couple of runs in the top of the seventh inning, loaded the bases, and had the tying run on deck when redshirt sophomore Skylar Brooks (Wilkesboro/Wilkes Central HS) was brought to the mound as the stopper, striking out the final two Red Wolves’ batters.
“Skylar did a fantastic job coming in, in that situation,” said Smith. “It was his first outing since an earlier hamstring injury, so that brought a lot of energy, too. As we approach tournament time, it is all a good shot in the arm.
“For Andrew, that walk-off home run was pretty special. It was his last at-bat here in this stadium and he is always going to remember it as a grand slam home run. That is pretty dang special and a lot of people can’t say that,” said Smith.
With the weekend wins, App State (15-11 SBC, 26-21 overall) climbs into the No. 5 spot in the Sun Belt Conference standings, behind Southern Miss (on a 13-win streak) and Coastal Carolina sharing the No. 1 position, with Louisiana and Troy holding down the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, respectively.
A final regular season road trip to Troy next week looms large for the Mountaineers. They take on the Trojans, May 18-19-20. At least two Mountaineer wins would push App State past Troy and into the No. 4 spot in the SBC standings, improving their seeding for the SBC conference tournament, May 23-28, in Montgomery, Ala.
OTHER SUN BELT GAMES ON MAY 14
Coastal Carolina 16, @South Alabama 10
Troy 4, @Marshall 2
Old Dominion 8, @James Madison 5
@Georgia State 16, Georgia Southern 5
@Louisiana 8, Texas State 3
Southern Miss 6, ULM 2
Sun Belt Conference Baseball Standings, as of May 14, 2023
