App State Opens Season at Elon Softball Classic

ELON, N.C. – App State Softball is set to kick off the 2024 campaign Friday-Sunday with four games against three different teams at the Elon Softball Classic. The Mountaineers will play Kent State on Friday, a doubleheader against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, before capping off play against host school Elon on Sunday.
   
First Pitch

• Head coach Shelly Hoerner enters her seventh season as head coach of the Mountaineers and already owns 140 wins at App State, which is the most in program history. She also boasts the highest winning percentage in program history.

 

• Senior outfielder Kayt Houston returns for her fourth year in the High Country after earning 2023 All-Sun Belt second-team honors a season ago. Houston was named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt team for the second year in a row.
  • Houston sits in the top 10 in several categories in the App State record book, including hits (ninth), home runs (seventh) and RBI (ninth).

 

• Taylor Thorp returns for her sixth season in the Black and Gold after posting career numbers in 2023. Thorp started a career-high 49 games for the Mountaineers, bashing a career-best four home runs and driving in a team-leading 27 runs.

 

• Notable newcomers highlight the 2024 roster, including graduate transfer Peyton Darnell, who was the 2022 Big South Player of the Year and a 3x All-Big South selection at USC Upstate.

 

• In the circle, the Mountaineers return all three of their top pitchers from a season ago in Sejal Neas, Kaylie Northrop and Delani Buckner. The trio combined to pitch over 300 innings in 2023, while striking out 211 batters, tallying 21 wins and saving two contests.

 
On the Mountaineers

• App State finished the 2023 season with a 23-28 record, marking the Black and Gold's third straight 20-win season.

 

• App State recorded its first win against a ranked opponent last season, downing the 23rd-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in Lafayette 5-3.

 

• The Mountaineers are set to play a tough non-conference schedule that will include matchups with two teams that made the NCAA Tournament a season ago in UNC Greensboro and Miami (Ohio).

 

• Also in non-conference play, the Mountaineers will travel to Raleigh in both February and March to take on ACC opponent NC State in non-conference play.

 

• The App State pitching staff finished with the fourth-lowest opponent batting average in the Sun Belt in 2023. Kaylie Northrop finished with the lowest opponent batting average on the team, keeping batters to just a .233 average in her junior year.

 

• Kayt Houston finished with the fourth-highest batting average in the Sun Belt last year, batting .383. She was also one of 14 players in the league with a slugging percentage over 1.000.

 
Series History
App State vs. Kent State:

• First meeting

 
App State vs. Miami (Ohio):

• Third meeting
• Last meeting: March 2, 2019
• Record: 1-1
• Trends
  • App State and Miami met twice in 2019 in Nashville, Tenn., splitting the two games.
  • App State won the first meeting before falling in extra innings by one run in the last meeting.

 
App State vs. Elon

• 27th meeting
• Last meeting: Feb. 10, 2019
• Record: 8-18
• Trends:
  • Elon has won the previous three meetings with App State, but the Mountaineers had won the previous five prior to Elon's three-game streak.
  • In the last 10 games between App State and Elon, each team has won five.

 
Up Next
After play concludes Sunday, the Mountaineers head down to Rock Hill, S.C., for a five-game weekend set against four different teams from Feb. 16-18 at the Winthrop Eagle Classic. While there, the Mountaineers will play against three teams for the first time in Monmouth, Le Moyne and Binghamton. App State's first game at the Winthrop Eagle Classic is set for Friday, Feb. 16 against Monmouth. First pitch is set for 10 a.m.