App State Faces Aggies in Midweek Tilt

GREENSBORO, N.C. –  Taking a brief break from conference play, the App State Mountaineers travel to Greensboro for a midweek showdown with the North Carolina A&T Aggies at the Lady Aggie Softball Complex on Wednesday. It will mark App State's first visit to Greensboro since 2021. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. 
   
Last Time Out
The Mountaineers took to Conway, S.C., last weekend where they took on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at St. John Stadium. In three tight contests, App State won the series opener before falling in the final two. Friday's win marked the first victory over Coastal Carolina in Conway since 2019. 
 
Abby Cunningham's sixth-inning two-RBI hit and Peyton Darnell's 200th career hit highlighted Friday's win as the Mountaineers rallied for three runs in the final two innings. Taylor Thorp helped the Mountaineers strike for two early runs with two RBIs. 
 
App State's pitching and defense helped keep them in each contest this past weekend, committing just one error in the field and limiting Coastal Carolina to just seven runs for the weekend. Sejal Neas started her weekend strong, pitching 3.1 scoreless innings in relief while striking out four to get the win. Neas continued her strong weekend on Saturday with a complete game, allowing just two runs. 
 
In the series finale, two players recorded multi-hit games in Addie Wray and Kayt Houston. Houston started the scoring in game three by blasting an opposite-field solo home run, marking her 29th career home run. She enters Wednesday's contest with the fifth-most homers in program history. 
 
First Pitch  

• Head coach Shelly Hoerner sits just six wins away from 700 career head-coaching wins. She is already the winningest coach in program history with 156 and became the first Mountaineer head coach to reach 150 career wins after defeating ETSU on March 11. 

 

• With three hits against the Chanticleers this past weekend, Houston inched herself even closer to Lindsay Glover's record for the most hits in program history. She became the second App State player to tally 225 hits with her first of two knocks on Sunday and needs just four more to set the new record. 

 

• App State's win in Conway last Friday marked the team's fourth victory on the road against Sun Belt Conference foes this season. It's the most road wins in a single season against conference foes since the 2019 team won 11 road contests against Sun Belt opponents. 

 

• Hot starts have helped fuel the Mountaineers to victories this season as they are 10-4 when scoring in the first inning and 13-6 when scoring the game's first run. App State has scored the first run in each of its Sun Belt wins this season. 

 

• Four runs have been the magic number for App State this season as they are 15-2 when eclipsing four runs. The only time the Mountaineers have lost when scoring at least four runs was to nationally ranked Louisiana on March 28 and the season-opener against Kent State. When the Mountaineers score fewer than four runs, they are 1-19. 

 

• Mountaineer pitchers have done well to limit base runners by pounding the strike zone every at-bat. Entering Wednesday's contest with N.C. A&T, App State owns the third-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the Sun Belt at 2.43. The Mountaineers have walked the second-fewest hitters in the league, trailing only Texas State. 

 

• On the offensive side, the Mountaineers are tough to strike out as they have gone down on strikes just 147 times in 37 games. Three players enter Wednesday's game in in the top 20 of the Sun Belt Conference in fewest strikeouts with Grace Barrett being the second-toughest hitter in the league to strike out. 

 
On the Mountaineers 

• Coach Hoerner boasts a deep squad as 12 different players have recorded a multi-hit game this season and 10 different players have tallied a multi-RBI game. Additionally, eight different Mountaineers have at least five two-hit contests this season. 

 

• Houston has had an exceptional season thus far and continued that last weekend with three hits across the three games. Heading into the midweek matchup in Greensboro, the senior is in the top five of the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, OPS and doubles. 

 

• After launching a seventh-inning homer to extend the Mountaineers' lead on Friday, Peyton Darnell has now homered in three of her last five games. She enters the week with the third-most long balls in the Sun Belt with nine. 

 

• The Mountaineer offensive unit has been stellar this year as they enter the week with the fifth-highest team batting average in the conference. Two players boast a top-25 batting average in Houston and Darnell and three players carry at least a .300 batting average entering Wednesday. 

 

• App State also hits home runs at a high clip, carrying the sixth-best mark in the league entering Wednesday with 28 homers. The Mountaineers have hit a home run in five of their last six contests and are 13-5 when going deep this season. 

 

• In the circle, Sejal Neas has led the way, making 18 starts. Her 3.11 ERA is currently the best on the team and the 15th-best mark in the Sun Belt. She has allowed fewer than two runs in each of her previous four appearances. 

 

• App State pitchers have done great at limiting hits this season as three of the Mountaineers' six pitchers hold a top-25 batting average against mark entering Wednesday. Neas is one of 16 pitchers in the Sun Belt with an opponent batting average less than .250 entering the week. 

 
Series History 

• App State vs. N.C. A&T
  • Record: 16-2
  • Last Meeting: April 17, 2022
  • Trends: 
    • App State is a perfect 8-0 in games played in Greensboro against N.C. A&T. 
    • The Mountaineers have won each of the last three contests against the Aggies, scoring at least six runs in each game. 

 
Up Next
App State will jump back into conference play this weekend by welcoming the James Madison Dukes to Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium for a three-game set starting Friday at 5 p.m. Every game can be streamed on ESPN+. Admission for all App State softball home games is free.