BUIES CREEK, N.C. - App State baseball defeated Campbell 5-4 on the road to take the opening weekend series Sunday.
Hunter Bryson's eighth-inning, two-run home run lifted App State to its eventual 5-4 victory, answering Campbell's trio of runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a 4-3 lead.
Andrew Greckel threw out a Fighting Camel baserunner at the plate to keep Campbell's lead at one heading into the eighth before Bryson's big fly.
In the bottom of the ninth, Campbell was able to put the tying run on second and the winning run on first with Zach Neto (D1Baseball's No. 3 SS) up at the plate, but Trey Jernigan sealed the series win for the Mountaineers with a final strikeout.
Jernigan was credited with the win on the mound for App State after entering the game in the seventh in a relief role. Jernigan tossed the final three frames, allowing zero runs on three hits and striking out four.
Jason Cornatzer earned the starting nod and pitched 3.0 innings, allowing zero runs on zero hits and struck out six.
App State tallied double digit hits, 10, on Sunday for the first time this season, out hitting a squad that advanced to a NCAA regional final last season in both game two and game three action.
The Mountaineers plated its own trio of runs in the fifth courtesy of a RBI-single from Luke Drumheller and Dylan Rogers. Drumheller would later scamper home on a Campbell wild pitch to take a 3-0 advantage through four and a half.
Rogers finished 3-for-5 up at the plate to go along with his RBI. Drumheller finished 2-for-4, an RBI and a run scored, and Andrew Terrell went 2-for-4 also scoring a run.
App State continues its seven-game road stretch to begin the season on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at No. 23 Duke.
First pitch against the Blue Devils is set for 4 p.m. from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The midweek matchup will be aired on ACCNX.
The 2022 App State baseball season is presented by Chick-fil-A.
