BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State (27-11, 11-3 SBC) will host Louisiana (34-4, 15-0 SBC) this weekend in a battle between the top two teams in the Sun Belt.
The Mountaineers have lost only three conference games this season and have four Sun Belt series wins on their resume going into the weekend.
APP STATE OFFENSE
The Apps split their midweek doubleheader with UNCG on Wednesday.
Alison Durrence hit her 10
th home run of the season in game one along with
Mary Pierce Barnes' second on the year.
Sidney Russell hit her first of the season to win game two.
Durrence not only leads the team in home runs, which is good for third in the Sun Belt, but also leads the team with a whopping .706 slugging percentage.
Jenny Dodd has a team-high and conference-best 35 walks this season accompanying a .450 on-base percentage. From the leadoff spot,
Keri White has 43 hits and only eight strikeouts through 129 at bats this season.
The App State bats currently sit at a solid .251 batting average with timely hitting playing the biggest role in the offense.
APP STATE DEFENSE
In the circle,
Kenzie Longanecker reach 300 career strikeouts on Wednesday with 86 this season. She is currently fourth in strikeouts in program history and second in wins in a single season.
Longanecker goes into the crucial weekend with a 14-3 record and 2.08 ERA, good for third in the Sun Belt.
Sydney Holland has a team-best 2.00 ERA, good for second in conference. Holland picked up the win in game two Wednesday and heads into the weekend with a 10-5 record and 46 strikeouts.
Behind the two, is a fourth ranked Sun Belt defense with a .972 fielding percentage and 32 errors on the year.
THE LAST TIME THEY PLAYED
The two went head-to-head in 2018 for the second conference series of the season for the Mountaineers.
App State lost the series and fell 0-7 in game three. The Mountaineers are 0-8 all-time against Louisiana.
SCOUTING RAGIN CAJUNS
The Ragin Cajuns have put together an 11-game winning streak after losing to McNeese in an 11-inning battle back in March. Louisiana leads the Sun Belt in both team batting and pitching and is second in team fielding.
The Ragin Cajuns have maintained a .340 batting average with Julie Rawls leading the way. Rawls has a .414 batting average with 36 hits and nine home runs on the year. In addition to leading the conference in batting average, she also leads the Sun Belt with a .816 slugging percentage and .559 on-base percentage.
In the circle, Summer Ellyson is the team ace with a conference-best 1.18 ERA and 199 strikeouts this season alone. Heading into the weekend, Ellyson has a 23-4 record through 30 appearances.
Louisiana backs up Ellyson with a .974 fielding percentage with only 28 errors on the season.
App State Softball thanks AutoStar Nissan of Boone for presenting the 2019 Softball Season.
