LYNCHBURG, VA - The Appalachian State Mountaineers (31-25) fell to the George Washington Colonials (44-17) by a score of 1-2 on Friday in the elimination bracket of the NISC Liberty Regional.
With the loss, the Mountaineers' historic season comes to an official end. Appalachian reached 31 wins for only the second time in program history with a .554 winning percentage. It marks the second best record in App State history since the 2013 Appalachian State Southern Conference Champions.
The Mountaineers finished Sun Belt Conference play at 13-13 and earned the fifth seed in the conference tournament, their first birth in the Sun Belt tournament in program history.
After an early exit in the first round, the Mountaineers were picked as an at-large team in the Postseason National Invitational Softball Championship, the first postseason birth for Appalachian in program history.
The Mountaineers fell to Rutgers 1-2 in the first round of the NISC, placing them in the elimination bracket. After George Washington fell to Kent State, the Mountaineers and Colonials were set to play to determine who would move on and whose season would come to a halt.
Kenzie Longanecker pitched the final game for the Mountaineers and suffered the loss in the circle. Longanecker picked up a strikeout and three walks in the loss, ending the season with a 14-9 record and 95 strikeouts on the year.
With 309 strikeouts in her career, she ends the season ranked fourth in App State history for career strikeouts with one season of eligibility remaining.
Keri White started the Mountaineers off right in their final game with a leadoff double. Unfortunately, the problem of the day started early and the Mountaineers could do little to nothing with runners in scoring position.
The Colonials saw the opposing action and jumped on it quick themselves as they scored their two runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead 2-0.
In the third, White did what she knows best, hitting another double to put herself in scoring position. This time, App State kept the response going with a groundout by
Caylie Kifer to push White to third and a single by
Mary Pierce Barnes to bring her home.
Aside from a single by
Megan Walker in the fifth inning, the Mountaineers were held to zeros across the board collectively. Both sides played unstoppable defense, keeping each other out of scoring position and forcing the other to rely on their bats.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Mountaineers could not get a rally going as the final batter and four-year senior
Jenny Dodd marked the final out of the game and of the season for Appalachian.
Despite the loss, App State put together one of the strongest seasons the school has seen and in only the second year of head coach
Shelly Hoerner and her staff's time on the Mountain.
