WILMINGTON, N.C. – The App State softball team hits the road this weekend, making the trip to the coast to take on UNCW in a four game-series. The Mountaineers and Seahawks will face each other in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at Noon, followed by a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at 10 a.m.
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About the Mountaineers
The Mountaineers sit at 3-3 on the young season, with a win against Charlotte and two wins against UNCG. App State finished last weekend 2-1, taking the series win against UNCG with victories in the first two games.
App State surged past UNCG 9-5 Saturday afternoon, sparked by
Baylee Morton's go-ahead, two-run blast in the sixth. The Mountaineers plated eight of nine runs in the final four frames, three in the fourth, two in the sixth and three in the seventh.
Kenzie Longanecker pitched a complete game win, allowing five runs on eight hits behind only two walks.
Both teams were held scoreless until the fourth inning of game two as the Spartans struck first in the bottom half. The Mountaineer bats came alive in the top of the fifth, scoring four runs to take the lead. App State added another in the sixth for the 5-3 advantage.
Two more insurance runs came in the top of the seventh with freshman
Allie Sewell earning her first career RBI off a single to left field.
Taylor Thorp also added a run with a sacrifice fly to left field. Those runs were ultimately needed as the Spartans put up two in the bottom half of the inning off a two-run shot from Jordan Gontram.
Sydney Holland was solid in the circle for the Mountaineers and earned her second win of the season. She threw the complete game win, giving up six hits and four earned runs. Holland ended the day with eight strikeouts.
Sun Belt Player of the Week
Baylee Morton earned Sun Belt Player of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday afternoon. This was the first honor of Morton's career and the second Player of the Week honor for the Mountaineers since joining the Sun Belt.
Morton started all five games at catcher last week for App State, posting a .429 batting average. She hit four home runs over five games and now has five home runs this season, matching the total she hit last season. The senior scored seven runs and knocked in 10 RBIs, with a 1.357 slugging percentage. After six games, Morton currently leads the team in batting average (.389), runs scored (8), home runs (5) and RBIs (12).
Big Bats
Four Mountaineers are hitting over .300 after six games this season. Along with Morton, Freshmen
Kayt Houston and
Emma Jones are both hitting .364, followed by 5
th year senior
Gabby Buruato hitting .316. Houston hit her first home run of her Mountaineer career against UNCG and now has eight hits and three RBIs on the season.
Jones has posted a triple and a double, with eight hits and four runs scored. She is also a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts this season. Buruato had a solid weekend at the plate against UNCG, posting six hits including four doubles (a team-high), bringing in seven runs. She also scored five runs of her own.
Sun Belt Leaders
Morton leads the Sun Belt in slugging percentage with a 1.278 and her five home runs are also good for conference leader. With 12 RBIs, Morton sits at second in the Sun Belt. With four doubles, Buruato sits at second in the conference and Jones' three stolen bases are good for fifth.
On the defensive side, Holland's three wins in the circle are tied for second, while Longanecker is tied for 7
th in batters struck out looking (3) and 9
th in opposing batting average (.210).
Scouting UNCW
After a couple weather cancellations, the Seahawks opened their season on Sunday, taking on Georgia State in a doubleheader. UNCW and Georgia State split, with the Panthers taking the first game 8-2 and the Seahawks taking the second game 5-4. UNCW finished 2020 with a record of 7-16 and were picked to finish fourth in the CAA South Division.
