ARLINGTON, TEXAS – Appalachian State softball dropped a pair to the UT Arlington Mavericks on Friday, March 30. The Apps are now 12-16 overall and 2-6 in the conference.
The Mountaineers' 12 combined hits were not enough to overcome the Mavericks who took the first game in a 6-7 win. Five Mountaineers had a multi-hit first game against UTA, but the Apps fell 3-7 in game two. White was involved in all three Mountaineer runs in the second game of the doubleheader, going 3-4 with two RBI and scored a run herself.
Game One (L, 6-7)
Through two scoreless innings for both App State and UTA,
Ally Walters' bunt in front of home plate was the Mountaineers' first hit of the game in the top of the third.
In the top of the fourth inning, Russell hit a leadoff single to right field to put a Mountaineer on base.
Jenny Dodd followed with a solid grounder through the 5-6 gap.
Haley Stewart drew a walk to load the bases, but all three were left stranded.
The Mountaineers came out swinging in the top of the fifth. With two outs, App State rallied for five hits in a row to bring three runs across the plate.
Keri White's single to left center started it all. Russell followed with a double to left center to advance White three bases to score. With Russell at second base,
Alisha Josey doubled to right center for the RBI. Dodd continued the rally with a double left field, which scored A. Josey from second for the Mountaineers' third run. Morton singled, but Dodd was thrown out on the scoring attempt at the plate to end the inning.
The Mavericks answered in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs to take the lead. A walk and a sacrifice bunt moved a Maverick into scoring position. Back-to-back errors by shortstop
Avery Wheatley allowed two runners on base and a run to score. A triple from Walton scored two unearned runs, and a single from Garcia scored the fourth run to pull ahead 3-4. UTA scored two more in the bottom of the sixth inning.
White started off the top of the seventh inning with a single to left field for her second hit of the game. A. Josey touched base on an error by the catcher on a short grounder in front of the plate to move White into scoring position. Dodd drew a walk to load the bases to allow Morton's single to left field to score two and lessen the Mavericks' lead. With one out, Stewart reached on a fielder's choice, and Bloom, pinch running, ran into the out at second base. With runners on first and third,
Heather Josey's pinch hit scored the run to tie it up at 6-6 and force the bottom of the final inning.
Williford's back-to-back walks in the bottom of the seventh brought in
Callie Kuykendall to the circle. With bases loaded, UTA scored in walk-off fashion on a single through the right side to win the game.
Game Two (L, 3-7)
Annaleise Kennedy started in the circle, but
Julianna Roupas came in to throw after one out in the first inning. A single up the middle from UTA's Wright scored two for the Mavericks in the bottom of the first. Their third run came in the third inning after a single and two wild pitches allowed the runner to advance to third base. The runner scored on a sacrifice fly also from Wright.
The Apps' first hit came off the bat of White in the third inning for a single to left field. The Apps strung a few hits together to score three in the top of the fifth inning. With two outs, Stewart sent one deep to left center for the second hit of the day, and
Megan Walker followed with a single to the third baseman, beating out the throw. White doubled to left center for her second hit of the game to score two for the Mountaineers, lessening the lead to 2-3. Sales reached first base on a bunt for a hit. Originially called out, Sales was determined safe at first after the umpires reversed the call, which kept the Mountaineers alive in the fifth inning to permit A. Josey to hit a single through the left side, scoring White from third.
With a tied ball game at 3-3, UTA scored one on a walk with bases loaded to regain the lead after Kuykendall entered the circle for Roupas. A fielding error occurred at third base for White, allowing an unearned run for UTA. Kuykendall, Morton and Stewart completed a double play to get the first two outs of the inning, but UTA's Curry doubled to right center for two RBI. Heading into the sixth inning, the Mavericks led 3-7 on four runs, two hits and one error in the bottom of the fifth. The Mavericks held onto the lead to win the ball game.
The Mountaineers will wrap up the series on Saturday, March 31 at 12 p.m. CT (1 p.m. ET) at UTA.
