By Matt Present. BOONE, N.C. — BOONE, N.C. – The App State offense slugged five homers and erupted for 14 unanswered runs in a 15-5 victory in seven innings over Queens to sweep the season series from the Royals.
After falling behind 5-1, App State used the long ball to climb back into the ballgame. In the fourth inning, Graham Smiley launched his first collegiate home run, a solo shot to left, and two batters later CJ Boyd connected on his eighth of the season to make it 5-3.
App State then plated five runs in the fifth inning, batting around, highlighted by another Smiley home run – a grand slam. App State took advantage of three walks and a hit batter in the inning.
The control difficulties continued for the Queens relievers in the sixth. App State was issued three walks and hit by five pitches in the inning. The Mountaineers made the Royals pay with a bases-clearing triple from Joseph Zamora and a two-run homer from Boyd, his second of the day.
Boyd has now hit nine home runs on the season and totaled 26 in his Mountaineer career, which is tied for 10th in program history. The all-time home run record is 33, set by Andre Crawford, who played for the Mountaineers from 1985-87.
Trey Tujetsch (win, 2-0) was impressive on the mound for App State. The senior allowed just an unearned run in 3.2 innings of work. Tujetsch gave up one hit and did not walk a batter, striking out four in the outing. He faced just one over the minimum, retiring nine of the final ten batters he faced.
Everette Harris retired the side in order in the seventh to seal the win.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, App State got on the board in the second, when Braxton Church began the home run barrage with a solo shot to center field for his fourth of the season. The five home runs in a game match a program record, also accomplished against UNC Asheville in 2007 and UNCG in 2008.
App State will host No. 13 Coastal Carolina in a three-game weekend series at Smith Stadium. First pitch Friday is set for 6 p.m. with the middle game slated for 3 p.m. on Saturday. The series concludes on Sunday, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. in the finale.
