ATLANTA – Fresh off a road win in Greensboro on Wednesday, the App State Mountaineers turn their attention to Sun Belt Conference play, traveling to Atlanta to take on the Georgia State Panthers in a weekend set starting Friday. It will be App State's first trip to Atlanta in nearly two years. First pitch from Bob Heck Softball Complex is slated for 5 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Who: App State (12-10) vs. Georgia State (8-15)
Where: Bob Heck Softball Complex // Atlanta, Ga.
When: Friday, March 15 – Sunday, March 17
Last Time Out
The Mountaineer offense started hot, scoring five runs in the first three innings, which paced them to a 6-4 win over UNCG to cap off the early portion of their non-conference schedule.
App State hung a three-spot on the Spartans before the defense took the field, capped off by
Taylor Thorp's first home run of the season. Thorp took the second pitch she saw in her first at-bat and sent it over the left-field wall.
Grace Barrett's two hits and two runs scored helped spark the Mountaineer bats to the win as she reached base three times in the contest.
Peyton Darnell continued her torrid start to her Mountaineer career as she tallied two more RBIs, marking the fourth consecutive game where she has driven in at least one run.
Pitching was solid for the Mountaineers as the trio of
Sejal Neas,
Jenna Samuel and
Kaylie Northrop held a strong Spartan offense to just four runs. Northrop's four scoreless innings in relief slammed the door shut on UNCG's comeback efforts as she struck out five and stranded multiple baserunners in her outing.
First Pitch
- With the win in game 1 on Monday over ETSU, head coach Shelly Hoerner eclipsed 150 career wins at App State, becoming the first coach in program history to cross that threshold. She sits just 10 wins away from 700 for her career.
- Offense has been critical to the Mountaineers' success this season as they average 8.6 runs a game in wins. App State has scored at least five runs in all but two of their 12 wins on the young season while scoring in double-digits in five of those wins.
- The Mountaineers have seen production up and down the lineup this season, seeing an astounding 14 players record a hit through 21 games. Additionally, 15 different players have recorded at least one RBI entering this weekend's series in Atlanta.
- As a team, App State is tough to strike out as they enter the weekend with the third-fewest team strikeouts in the Sun Belt with only 75. Individually, Grace Barrett has been the toughest hitter in the country to strike out among qualified hitters as she has struck out just once in 75 at-bats to begin her season.
- Because of App State's ability to put the ball in play, opposing teams see traffic on the basepaths in almost every inning they face the Mountaineers. As of Wednesday's game, the Mountaineers have seen at least one baserunner reach in all but 27 innings they have played this season, which has led to a team on-base percentage of .392 entering the weekend.
- Kaylie Northrop's no-hitter in game 2 against ETSU was just the fourth no-hitter in program history and the first since 2020. The last App State pitcher to throw a no-hitter was Sydney Holland, who threw a no-hitter against UNCG. The lefty has allowed just two hits in her last nine innings in the circle while striking out 12 batters.
- Senior outfielder Kayt Houston slugged another hit in Wednesday's win over UNCG, bringing her just 20 hits away from the program record for career hits entering the weekend.
On the Mountaineers
- The Mountaineer offense has been potent to start the season as they enter Sun Belt Conference play with the highest batting average in the Sun Belt Conference and the 25th-highest batting average in the country, batting .331 as a team. Additionally, the Mountaineers sit third in slugging percentage, third in OPS and third in RBIs in the SBC.
- Extra-base hits have paced the Mountaineers to the third-highest slugging percentage in the conference entering the weekend as 56 of their 195 total hits this season have gone for extra bases. Kayt Houston leads the team in extra-base hits with half of her hits going for extra-bases entering Friday's action.
- App State has seen production throughout the lineup, seeing seven different payers enter Friday's game with a batting average of at least .300. Grace Barrett's three-hit outing in game 2 against ETSU on Monday marked the sixth different Mountaineer to record a three-hit game this season.
- The duo of Houston and Darnell has done nothing but produce at the top of the Mountaineer order as they have combined to tally 59 hits, 16 doubles, 11 home runs and 48 RBIs. Darnell has recorded at least one RBI in each of her last four games while Houston has tallied at least one extra-base hit in each of her past three games.
- Newcomers have been a large portion of the Mountaineers' offensive production to start the season as entering the weekend series in Atlanta, newcomers have accounted for more than half of App State's total RBIs.
- Kaylie Northrop and Sejal Neas have spearheaded the Mountaineer pitching staff, pitching 108.1 of the total 133 innings this season. The duo has a combined 2.97 ERA and has struck out 105 batters on the season. Both pitchers enter conference play in the top 20 in ERA for the season.
Series History
- App State vs. Georgia State
- 24th Meeting
- Last meeting: April 23, 2023
- Record: 9-14
- Trends:
- The Mountaineers won two of the three meetings with Georgia State last year.
- App State has won three of the last five games on the road against the Panthers.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will head to San Marcos, Texas, for another road conference series at Texas State after play concludes Sunday in Atlanta. First pitch against the Bobcats is set for 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) on Friday, March 22. Each game can be streamed on ESPN+.
