COLUMBIA, S.C. – With the score 6-1 in favor of the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks (2-4) in the sixth inning, the App State Softball team (1-5) exploded for a five-run inning to tie the game at six, using a two-out, game-tying grand slam by
Grace Barrett to do so. The two teams remained deadlocked at six until the 11th inning, which saw The RedHawks score three runs to win the game 9-6 on Friday in Columbia.
The 11-inning affair marked App State's longest game since May 10, 2007, against the College of Charleston at the Southern Conference Tournament. It's the second game that the Mountaineers have played in this season that has gone at least nine innings.
A heroic grand slam by Barrett to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth inning highlighted an 11-hit day for the Mountaineers on Day 1 of the Carolina Classic. App State saw three players record multi-hit days in Barrett,
Leah Gore and
Madison McIntyre, while
Jaylee Williams tallied a pinch-hit single in the sixth inning to mark her first career hit. Overall, eight different players tallied hits against the RedHawks.
Although she suffered the tough-luck loss,
Sophie Moshos was dynamite in relief against Miami (Ohio), pitching nine innings and striking out nine. After the RedHawks hit a homer to take a 6-0 lead, Moshos kept them scoreless for 6.2 consecutive innings. Her nine strikeouts marked her most in an App State uniform. The lefty didn't allow a free baserunner in her nine innings of work.
How it Happened
Taking the field as the home team to open the Carolina Classic,
Sejal Neas, the App State starter, hurled a scoreless first inning, working around a walk and a hit to do so.
Julia Girk gave the Mountaineers their first baserunner in the bottom half of the first, but she was stranded, sending the game to the second scoreless.
The RedHawks opened the game's scoring with a four-run second inning, tallying all their runs with two outs. Three walks loaded the bases and after a pitching change, Kaylee Oh drove home the first run before a two-RBI double by Holly Merritt made it 4-0. App State loaded the bases itself in the bottom of the inning, but a strikeout ended the threat.
A two-out, two-run homer by Ella Carter made the score 6-0 RedHawks in the third. Needing a response, Gore led off the fourth inning with a walk and was chased home thanks to McIntyre's RBI double into the left-field corner. McIntyre's double marked her first career hit and RBI.
Settling in after a rough start, Moshos worked around a fielding error to post a zero in the fifth inning, bringing the Mountaineer bats right back up. App State used a bunt single by Girk and a double by Barrett to put two runners into scoring position, but two groundouts ended the threat. RedHawks' starting pitcher Madilyn Reeves stymied the Mountaineer bats through five innings as she tallied eight strikeouts to that point.
Moshos stranded a runner at third base in the sixth inning to keep the score 6-1. App State erupted to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning with five runs on three hits. Williams' pinch-hit double started the rally, and then two straight walks to McIntyre and
Summer Simpson loaded the bases for
Makayla McClain.
McClain put the ball in play and ran out an infield single to score Williams, making the score 6-2. After a strikeout to tally the second out, Barrett delivered a clutch, two-out grand slam that scraped over the left-field fence to tie the score. Barrett's homer marked her team-leading second of the season.
Macy Hamby walked to continue the rally, but after a pitching change, the RedHawks exited the inning. Play moved to the seventh frame tied at six.
App State mowed down Miami (Ohio) in the seventh inning, giving them a chance to walk it off in the bottom half. The Mountaineers loaded the bases yet again thanks to hits by
Olivia Cook and McIntyre and a walk to McClain, but a groundout sent the game to extras.
Moshos again sat down the RedHawks in order in the eighth, but App State couldn't score in its half of the eighth, despite seeing two singles by Hamby and Gore. A scoreless ninth and 10th innings quickly moved action to the 11th inning, marking the Mountaineers' first 11-inning game since 2007.
The Mountaineers recorded the first two outs of the 11th inning quickly, but an infield hit and a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. The RedHawks tallied two straight two-out hits to score three 11th-inning runs to take a 9-6 lead. The Mountaineers again loaded the bases in the bottom half, but a strikeout ended the game with the RedHawks pulling out the win.
Friday Notes
Home runs
App: Barrett (2)
MOH: Carter (1)
WP – Léa Chevrier (1-1): 5.1 IP, 4 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
SV – N/A
LP –
Sophie Moshos (1-4): 9 IP, 8 hits, 6 runs (5 earned runs), 0 walks, 9 strikeouts
Up Next
App State will continue play at the Carolina Classic on Saturday afternoon, seeing the Winthrop Eagles for the first of two meetings this weekend. First pitch from Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.
