CHARLESTON, S.C. – Appalachian State (5-3) begins the Holy City Showdown undefeated with a pair of wins against Dartmouth (1-1) and College of Charleston (5-7) on Friday.
Keri White extended her hitting streak to four straight games, going 1-2 against Dartmouth and 2-4 against College of Charleston today. She has had at least one hit in seven of eight games with four multi-hit performances.
App State vs. Dartmouth (W, 2-1)
The top of the lineup produced for the Mountaineers with a hit apiece from White,
Caylie Kifer and
Alison Durrence.
White launched a home run over the left center field fence to get the Mountaineers on the board early in the first inning. In the fifth,
Jenny Dodd singled down the leftfield line, and
Ally Walters followed with a walk. A dropped fly ball in left field allowed
Megan Walker load the bases for the Mountaineers. White's sacrifice fly to deep centerfield brought in the second and final run for the Apps.
Eight of Apps' 21 outs were strikeouts for
Kenzie Longanecker, breaking her season-high seven strikeouts from the season opener against Longwood. Today's game against Dartmouth was Longanecker's second consecutive game with no walks. She totals 23 strikeouts on the season in her five appearances for a 3-0 record in the circle.
App State vs. College of Charleston (W, 4-1)
The Mountaineers answered the Cougars' run in the first inning with a run in the second. Singles from Stewart and Morton and a walk from Dodd loaded the bases for Russell, who drew a walk to bring Stewart across the plate.
In the top of the seventh, Stewart smashed one off the glove of the pitcher and into the outfield to bring in two runs for the Mountaineers, putting the Apps on top. With bases loaded, Morton's shallow grounder allows her to reach first base on an error by the catcher whose throw pulled the fielder off the bag. Kifer scored on the play for the Mountaineers' fourth run.
Sydney Holland brings her record to 2-2 after today's win in the circle against the Cougars. She totals five strikeouts on the season in her 18.2 innings of work for a team-low 1.50 ERA.
The Apps continue play in the Holy City Showdown on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. against Radford and at 5:45 p.m. against Iowa State at Patriots Point (College of Charleston).
App State Softball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for sponsoring the 2019 season.
