BOONE, N.C. – App State baseball opens the 2024 season on the road, as they take on Gardner-Webb in a three-game weekend series. Friday's game is set for 4 p.m., with the middle game of the series scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday. The series finale is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday, in Boiling Springs, N.C.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
App State is coming off a 30-win season in 2023, their best since 2013, en route to a Sun Belt Tournament Semifinals appearance. The team knocked of ranked Coastal Carolina and Southern Miss teams along the way, and saw
CJ Boyd and
Xander Hamilton earn All-Conference honors. App State has added 15 newcomers to their 2024 roster, in addition to 23 returning player. Boyd has also been named to the 2024 Preseason All-Sun Belt team.
SCOUTING THE RUNNIN' BULLDOGS
Gardner-Webb also posted a 30-win season in 2023, going 31-25 and 15-12 in conference play. The Runnin' Bulldogs clinched a spot in the four-team Big South tournament, defeating top-seeded Campbell in the opening game, before losing in a 15-inning heartbreaker to No. 3 seed Winthrop. This season the Runnin' Bulldogs have been picked second in the Big South Preseason poll and graduate infielder Alec Burns has been named to the preseason All-Conference team after slugging nine home runs while totaling a .990 fielding percentage a year ago.
SERIES HISTORY
The Mountaineers and Runnin' Bulldogs have faced off in 50 all-time meetings, with App State leading the all-time series 29-21. The two teams met twice a season ago in a rained shortened series. App State fell 12-11 on Saturday, bringing the winning run to the plate in the ninth, before bouncing back with a resounding 19-6 victory on Sunday.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRI - RHP Blake Brogdon (GWU) vs RHP
Bradley Wilson (APP)
SAT - LHP Michael Ciminiello (GWU) vs RHP
Jackson Steensma (APP)
SUN - RHP Gavin Schmitt (GWU) vs RHP
Dante Chirico (APP)
BASHIN' BOYD
Senior outfielder
CJ Boyd has been named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt team. Boyd was named first-team All-Conference following last season and garnered a spot on the Sun Belt All-Tournament team in 2023. He enjoyed one of the most productive offensive seasons in App State history, slashing .364/.399/.712 in 45 games (43 starts) for the Mountaineers. The transfer from East Carolina tied a program record with 17 home runs, blasting 12 homers in his final 16 games of the season. Boyd hit safely in the final 19 games of the year, going 42-for-93 (.452) over that span. Boyd became the first Mountaineer since Wes Hobson (2010) to finish a season with double-digit home runs, doubles and stolen bases. He finished top 10 in the Sun Belt in batting average, slugging, OPS and home runs.
X MARKS THE SPOT
In his first season in Boone,
Xavier Moronta made himself an instant on-base presence for the Mountaineers. Moronta started all 55 games for the Black & Gold, slashing .339/.444/.459, and leading led team in on-base percentage. He reached base safely in 47 of 55 games. The Miramar, Fla. native tallied a 20-game hitting streak from April 21 through May 27 and enjoyed 22 multi-hit games on the year. He also walked 34 times compared to just 29 strikeouts on the campaign.
SUPER STEENSMA
Right-handed pitcher
Jackson Steensma impressed his freshman season, tying a program-record with seven saves on the year, and striking out 34 batters in 27.1 innings of work. Steensma finished the year with a 3-1 record across 22 outings, and will move into the starting rotation this season.
2023 RECAP
App State enjoyed their best season in a decade last season, going 30-25 on the season and 16-13 in Sun Belt play. App State knocked off No. 8/7 Coastal Carolina on the road on May 5, and then toppled 16
th Ranked Southern Miss in the Sun Belt tournament. The team finished 88
th nationally in RPI, their best mark in seven seasons under
Kermit Smith. App State finished sixth in the Sun Belt, their best finish since joining the league in 2015, and boasted top-10 statistical seasons in runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs, stolen bases, batters struck out, saves and fielding percentage.
FAST & PHYSICAL
A focus going into 2023 was for the team to play a faster and more physical style of baseball. The Mountaineers went on to steal 73 bases, their ninth most in program history and most since 2013, doing so in 85 tries (86%). The team also belted 67 home runs, their fourth-most all-time and most since 2008.
CJ Boyd tied a program record with 17 home runs, while
Golston Gillespie added 15 long balls.
SUPERB SUN BELT
The Sun Belt continues to be one of the top conferences in college baseball, ranking fifth in the nation in RPI, ahead of the Big Ten. Nine Sun Belt teams finished in the Top-100 in RPI individually, with four Sun Belt squads advancing to the regional round of the NCAA tournament.
MR. 600
Head Coach
Kermit Smith recorded his 600
th career victory on April 14, 2023 against Georgia Southern. Prior to his arrival in Boone, Smith won 244 games at Lander and 228 at Belmont Abbey, taking each to the Division II College World Series. He has since won 141 games in seven seasons with the Mountaineers. After passing Frank Lovrich's 125 wins earlier this year, Smith now ranks third on the Mountaineers wins list, trailing only Jim Morris (611) and Chris Pollard (244).
National Recognition
CJ Boyd has received national recognition leading up to this season, earning a spot on Perfect Game's All-Sun Belt preseason team, in addition to being ranked as the 59th-best outfielder in the nation by D1baseball.com.
HONORING THE 1984 TEAM
App State baseball is honoring the 40
th anniversary season of the 1984 Southern Conference Championship team. App State recorded its best winning percentage in program history that year, going 35-7 and 12-2 in SoCon play to made the NCAA tournament. The team was led by Pete Hardee, who went 12-1 on the mound with a 1.07 ERA on the season and was selected as the first All-American in program history. He was later inducted into the App State Hall of Fame in 2007. Second Baseman Jamie Harris not only batted .326 on the year, but excelled in the classroom as well, and was named the first Academic All-American in program history. The team finished with five All-Conference players that season.
RPI BY YEAR (UNDER KERMIT SMITH)
2023 - 100
2022 - 120
2021 - 167
2020 - 62 (SEASON CUT SHORT DUE TO COVID-19 AFTER 16 GAMES)
2019 - 189
2018 - 182
2017 - 183
UP NEXT
For the third consecutive season, App State will host a game in Hickory, as it faces off with Siena in a three-game weekend series, Feb. 23-25. First pitch on Friday is set for 3 p.m. with action on Saturday and Sunday slated to begin at 1 p.m. All three games will feature an audio broadcast on
appstatesports.com.
