Mountaineers and Dukes Duel in Elimination Game Thursday - App State Athletics (2023)

AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Baseball 5/24/2023 6:49:00 PM

BOONE, N.C. – Following an extra-inning loss to Troy on Wednesday, the sixth-seeded Mountaineers will look to stave off elimination Thursday when they face off with seventh seeded James Madison at 10 a.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State (27-24, 16-13) belted three home runs and put together two separate four-run innings Wednesday in a one-run loss to the Trojans. The Mountaineers capped off their best season since joining the Sun Belt, recording their 16^th conference win on Sunday to secure a spot in the double-elimination bracket. The Mountaineers 27 wins overall this season are their most since 2013. App State won six of their 10 conference series this season, while also knocking off No. 8 Coastal Carolina for their highest ranked win since 2013. App State is led at the plate by CJ Boyd who has hit 10 home runs in his last 12 games and is batting .346 on the campaign. Boyd and Xander Hamilton were named to the First Team All-Sun Belt on Monday. Hamilton struck out five on Wednesday against the Trojans to increase his season total to 113 punchouts. Xavier Moronta is also hitting .337 on the season and is currently riding a 17 game hitting streak. Boyd and Golston Gillespie lead the squad with 15 home runs, the most by a Mountaineer since 2012. Andrew Terrell's 15 stolen bases are also the most by a Mountaineer since 2013. Dante Chirico will make the start for the Mountaineers on Thursday. He is coming off his best outing of the season when he fired five scoreless innings on Friday night at Troy.

SCOUTING THE DUKES
James Madison (31-24, 15-13) opened the Sun Belt tournament with a win over tenth-seeded Old Dominion on Tuesday to advance to the double elimination portion of the bracket. The seventh-seeded Dukes then fell to second-seeded Southern Miss on Wednesday, 7-1, behind a complete game from Sun Belt pitcher of the year Tanner Hall. During the conference slate, JMU won Sun Belt series over ArkansasState, GeorgiaState, Louisiana, Marshall, and Old Dominion. The Dukes are led by a pair of second team All-Conference selections in Jack Cone and Fenwick Trimble. They have doubled 20 and 22 times respectively for a JMU squad that is among the nation's best with 121 two-baggers on the season. On the mound, Joe Vogatsky has been the Dukes most reliable reliever, recording five saves in 20 appearances and posting a 2.79 ERA on the campaign. Cone, a two-way player, will make the start for the Dukes on Thursday.

SERIES HISTORY
App State took two of three from the Dukes in the regular season in a series played in Boone April 28-30. CJ Boyd hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth inning on Sunday to claim a rubber game victory. Golston Gillespie homered twice in the series, driving in six runs in three game for the Mountaineers. The all-time series is tied 2-2, with the only other meeting coming back 2001 when the Dukes won 23-8 in Harrisonburg.

APP AT THE SBC
After not qualifying for the Sun Belt tournament in their first four seasons in the league, the Mountaineers made history with a 1-0 shutout of Texas State in 2021 to earn their first Sun Belt Tournament win. Eli Ellington recorded the final nine outs to secure the save of the contest, one of three different pitchers to toss three innings that day for the Mountaineers. App State followed that up with a victory over Little Rock last season in the opening round of the tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals where they lost to Georgia Southern. App State's lone conference tournament win came as a SoCon member in 1984. They also won six regular season titles, most recently in 2012 when they won a program-record 41 games and advanced to the Charlottesville, Va. regional.

Double Elimination Format (Play In)
5/21/19 Louisiana (#8) L, 6-2

Pool Play Format
5/25/21 Texas State (West #6) W, 1-0
5/27/21 Louisiana (West #1) L, 7-2

Single Elimination Format
5/24/22 Little Rock (#8) W, 10-3
5/27/22 Georgia Southern (#2) L, 7-1

Double Elimination Format
5/24/23 Troy (#3) L, 10-9 (10 inn)

RECORD ATTENDANCE
App State baseball set a home attendance record this season, welcoming over 13,000 fans to Smith Stadium this spring. The Mountaineers also set a single-game attendance record against No. 2 Wake Forest on April 11, as 1,376 fans attended the contest, eclipsing the previous high of 1,116 against Georgia Southern on April 16, 2013. App State also announced record season ticket sales ahead of the 2023 season, the sixth consecutive year of growth.

BASHIN' BOYD
CJ Boyd was named a First Team All-Conference outfielder in the Sun Belt Monday, and continued his home run barrage with a two-run shot in the fifth inning against Troy on Wednesday. Boyd has now homered 10 times in his last 12 games, tying Golston Gillespie for the team lead, and the most hit in a single season since 2012. In Sun Belt play Boyd finished in the top-10 in the league in hits (2nd - 46), slugging (4th – .782), OPS (3^rd – 1.213), home runs (T-3^rd – 12) batting average (4^th – .387) doubles (T-7^th – 11), and RBI (10th – 33). He was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week last Tuesday, following an outstanding weekend against Arkansas State. Boyd hit four home runs in the series, going for 7-for-14 (.500) at the plate, while also doubling, scoring seven runs, and driving in seven more.

Boyd has hit safely in 15 consecutive games, going 32-for-74 (.432) over that span, raising his average by 65 points, to .346. The ECU transfer also among Sun Belt leaders in slugging percentage at .687 and boasts an OPS of 1.074. With 15 home runs, 14 doubles and 10 stolen bases, Boyd becomes the first Mountaineer since Wes Hobson (2010) to boast double-digit homers, doubles, and steals in the same season.

X MARKS THE SPOT
Xaveir Moronta has been a valuable addition for the Mountaineers this season, since transferring in from Santa Fe College (Fla.). The outfielder is riding a 17-game hitting streak, going 27-for-67 (.403) over that span, while batting .342 with 12 doubles in Sun Belt play. On the season the Miramar, Fla. nativeis slashing .337/.444/.454 with 31 walks compared to 27 strikeouts. He has reached base in 44 of 51 games played this season. He joins Luke Drumheller and Golston Gillespie as the only Mountaineers to start in every contest.

UP NEXT
With a win the Mountaineers would face the loser of third-seeded Troy and second-seeded Southern Miss on Friday at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+.