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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – App State junior Calbert Guest’s first-place finish in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase highlighted the second day of action at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Friday. Through two days of competition, the Mountaineers have tallied six top-five finishes. With eight of 21 events scored, the men stand fourth in the team standings with 40 points and the women are tied for 11th.

In the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, Guest led the pack, stopping the clock at 8:54.06 for a new personal best and the SBC title. He remains fourth in the App State all-time list for the event and closes out the night ranked 35th in the NCAA East Prelim qualifying list. Senior Jonah Morris finished sixth (9:21.18) and graduate student Jonah Bird finished eighth (9:32.95). Senior Claire Mason rounded out the top-10 in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:39.71.

Junior Braden Underwood recorded a personal best clearance of 4.91m (16′ 1.25″) to place fourth in the men’s pole vault. Underwood’s clearance ties him with fellow junior Matthew Bigelow at eighth in the App State all-time list. Bigelow finished seventh overall with a clearance of 4.76m (15′ 7.25″).

In the men’s shot put, juniors Chris Wainscott and Nathan Karl placed fifth (17.48m (57′ 4.25″)) and seventh (17.01m (55′ 9.75″)), respectively. Junior Siby Yao and senior Taylor Smith finished seventh (5.77m (18′ 11.25″)) and ninth (5.73m (18′ 9.75″)), respectively, in the women’s long jump.

Senior Mariah Atwater advanced to Saturday’s women’s 400-meter final after finishing second in the prelim with a time of 55.15. Freshman Harrison Robinson advanced to the Saturday final of the men’s 110-meter hurdles after clocking a time of 14.45 to finish seventh in the prelim.

Day 1 Review
In the men’s 10,000 meters, senior Oliver Wilson-Cook and sophomore Chase Burrell finished fourth (30:33.92) and fifth (31:19.92), respectively. Wainscott registered a fifth-place finish in the men’s hammer throw with a toss of 57.65m (189′ 1″).

Seven Mountaineers advanced to Saturday’s finals in the men’s and women’s 1,500 meters, men’s 400-meter hurdles, and women’s 200 meters. Junior Jasmine Donohue stopped the clock at 4:33.41 to finish third in the women’s 1,500-meter prelim, while Atwater and Smith took fifth (24.12, PR) and eighth (24.25, PR), respectively, in the women’s 200-meter prelims.

Freshman Christian Gore placed eighth in the men’s 400-meter hurdle prelim, stopping the clock at 53.65. Morris and juniors Rylan Haskett and Dwayne Lillie took eighth (4:01.12), ninth (4:01.22), and 11th (4:02.18), respectively, in the men’s 1,500-meter prelim.

Up Next
The Sun Belt Outdoor Track & Field Championships will wrap up on Saturday. The meet will resume at noon and the ESPN+ stream will start at 4 p.m.

Team Standings | End of Day 2

Men’s Teams
8 of 21 Events Scored
1.Arkansas State – 73.5 points
2. South Alabama – 50.5 points
3. Texas State – 43 points
4. App State – 40 points
5. Louisiana – 39 points
6. Troy – 24 points
7. ULM – 23 points
8. Coastal Carolina – 8 points
8. Marshall – 8 points
10. Southern Miss. – 3 points

Women’s Teams
8 of 21 Events Scored
1.Arkansas State – 62 points
2. South Alabama – 48 points
3. Texas State – 47 points
4. Marshall – 34 points
5. Louisiana – 28 points.
6. ULM – 24.5 points
7. Southern Miss. – 22 points
8. James Madison – 19 points
9. Georgia Southern – 12 points
10. Coastal Carolina – 9.5 points
11. App State – 3 points
11. Troy – 3 points
-Georgia State – 0 points

BOONE, N.C. – App State overcame a big Arkansas State rally and an hour-and-a-half rain delay, plating the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning, to win the series opener 7-6 in a contest that stretched into the early hours of Saturday morning at Smith Stadium.

Five innings into the ballgame the Mountaineers (24-21, 13-11) were in the driver’s seat. App State led 4-0 behind a pair of solo home runs from CJ Boyd, and another dominant strikeout performance from Xander Hamilton, who allowed just five baserunners in his first five innings while striking out eight.

The two-homer game was the first of Boyd’s career, and tenth of the season, becoming the first Mountaineer since Wes Hobson in 2010 to record double-digit home runs and steals in the same season.

In a ballgame that saw the first pitch pushed back two hours due to weather, the rain in the High Country vacillated between a drizzle and a downpour, even after the ballgame got underway.

In the sixth inning, after Hamilton picked up his ninth strikeout of the ballgame, the rain intensified, as did the Red Wolves rally. Five consecutive batters reached against Hamilton, highlighted by a two-run double from Brayden Caskey, and with the bases loaded for Arkansas State, following a walk, the umpires waved the players off the field.

Just before 11:30 p.m. play resumed, with the Red Wolves carrying the momentum across the delay, as with two outs, Will French cleared the bases with a triple to deep left field to give the visitors their first lead of the ballgame at 5-4.

Arkansas State would increase that advantage to 6-4 an inning later on a misplayed ball in right field, but Collin Welch minimized the damage by retiring the next three hitters, including a pair of strikeouts.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Mountaineers punched back. Xavier Moronta reached on an infield single, and Luke Drumheller followed with an RBI double to left-center to make it 6-5. Moronta reached base four times in the ballgame and extended his hitting streak to 11 straight games.

With one out in the inning, the Mountaineers continued to chip away. Golston Gillespie walked to put runners at first and second and Dylan Rogers followed with a ground ball to the hole at shortstop that was thrown away at third base allowing Drumheller to score the tying run. One batter later, Alex Reed doubled to left to put App State back in front, 7-6.

Welch (win, 2-2) backed the offense up with a scoreless eighth inning, helped by a relay throw from Alex Aguila to cut down a run at the plate on a double to left-center.

Jackson Steensma (save, 6) worked around a leadoff double and a walk in the ninth inning, getting a double-play and a strikeout to seal the victory.

The middle game of the series is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday, with Senior Day festivities beginning at 2:40 p.m.

By Bobby Neal for App State Sports. NEW ORLEANS — App State softball junior Kayt Houston has been named second-team All-Sun Belt, the conference announced Tuesday.

The outfielder from Rock Hill, S.C. has garnered all-conference honors for the second consecutive season, receiving first-team honors in 2022, and becomes the second player in program history to be named to an all-Sun Belt squad in multiple years.

Houston finished the regular season with 64 hits, ranking fourth in the league and 37th in the nation. She also finished in the top-10 in the conference in batting average (.383), doubles (13) and on-base percentage (.464).

She found a new role in the leadoff spot during the 2023 season and led the Mountaineers with 38 runs, which was the 11th-most in the league. She scored at least two runs in 10 contests.

Houston also had seven games with at least three hits, including the series finale against James Madison on April 29, when she hit a game-tying grand slam in the sixth inning. She also had four hits, two of which were doubles, in a win over Belmont.

In App State’s first ranked win in program history against No. 23 Louisiana, Houston scored two of the Mountaineers’ five runs after tallying two walks and a hit.

This is the eighth time that a Mountaineer has earned all-conference honors since the softball program joined the Sun Belt in 2014.

2023 Sun Belt Softball Postseason Awards
Player of the Year: Karly Heath, Louisiana (SR, OF – Alvin, Texas)
Pitcher of the Year: Olivia Lackie, South Alabama (JR, P – Walker, La.)
Newcomer of the Year – Sydney Bickel, Marshall (JR, SS – Peoria, Ariz.)
Freshman of the Year: Mihyia Davis, Louisiana (FR, OF – Lovelady, Texas)
Coach of the Year: Becky Clark, South Alabama

First Team
Olivia Lackie, South Alabama (JR, P – Walker, La.)
Sydney Nester, Marshall (R-SR, P – Hillsville, Va.)
Hannah Shifflett, James Madison (GR, 1B – North Garden, Va.)
KK Mathis, James Madison (FR, 2B – West Chester, Ohio)
Sydney Bickel, Marshall (JR, SS – Peoria, Ariz.)
Meredith Keel, South Alabama (GS, 3B – Ashville, Ohio)
Autumn Owen, Marshall (JR, C – Mill Spring, N.C.)
Iyanla De Jesus, Coastal Carolina (SR, DP – Mill Creek, Wash.)
Karly Heath, Louisiana (SR, OF – Alvin, Texas)
Mihyia Davis, Louisiana (FR, OF – Lovelady, Texas)
Victoria Ortiz, South Alabama (R-SR, OF – Mobile, Ala.)
Jessica Mullins, Texas State (JR, P – Tarkington, Texas)
Lauren Allred, Louisiana (FR, 1B – Texarkana, Texas)
Alex Coleman, Marshall (SO, OF – Asheboro, N.C.)
Grace Chelemen, Marshall (5th, OF – Woodhaven, Mich.)

Second Team
Meghan Schorman, Louisiana (SR, P – Hazelwood, Mo.)
Jenna Hardy, South Alabama (SR, P – Whitehouse, Ohio)
Libby Baker, Troy (JR, 1B – Skipperville, Ala.)
Taylor McKinney, Troy (SO, 2B – Montgomery, Ala.)
Alexa Langeliers, Louisiana (SO, SS – Keller, Texas)
Sara Vanderford, Texas State (SR, 3B – Pasadena, Texas)
Sophie Piskos, Louisiana (JR, C – Paris, Tenn.)
Kelly Horne, Troy (SR, DP – Tallahassee, Fla.)
Emily Brown, Georgia State (SR, OF – Suwanee, Ga.)
Mackenzie Brasher, South Alabama (SR, OF – Orange Beach, Ala.)
Kayt Houston, App State (JR, OF – Rock Hill, S.C.)
Hannah Borden, Southern Miss (SR, C – Trussville, Ala.)
Sam Landry, Louisiana (SO, P – Mont Belvieu, Texas)
Emma Davis, Georgia Southern (FR, OF – Grayson, Ga.)
Leanna Johnson, Troy (SR, P – Brantley, Ala.)
Diamond Williams, Coastal Carolina (SR, OF – Evans, Ga.)

* Ties were not broken.