COLUMBIA, S.C. – On the second day of the Carolina Classic, App State Softball (1-6) fell short to the Winthrop Eagles (5-2) by a final score of 6-3. The Mountaineers faced an early 6-1 deficit with their comeback effort falling short by three runs. The team notched 13 hits, including a two-RBI base hit from
Grace Barrett in the sixth inning and an RBI off the bat of freshman
Leah Gore in the top of the third.
Jaylee Williams led all hitters with three hits in four at-bats while Barrett and Gore joined her with multiple hits, each having two-hit days.
Marti Henkel recorded her first hit at App State in the contest, seeing a single fall into right field in the second inning.
The Eagles scored all six of their runs between the second and fourth innings.
Bel Varadi, who came on in relief of
Mollie Bulla, tallied five straight strikeouts between the game's fifth and sixth innings and set her new career high in strikeouts with six.
How it Happened
Starting the game on offense against the Eagles,
Makayla McClain took the first pitch of the contest for a single into right field. McClain promptly stole second base to immediately put a runner into scoring position, but the Eagles were able to strand her on second base and keep the game scoreless.
Bulla, who made the second start of her career on Saturday, sat down Winthrop on 10 pitches in the bottom of the second. App State loaded the bases in the bottom of the second thanks to hits by
Macy Hamby, Williams and Henkel, giving it the first scoring chance of the contest. The Eagle defense forced a ground ball and threw out Hamby at the plate to record the second out and a groundout quickly ended the threat to keep the game deadlocked at zero after an inning and a half.
Winthrop scored three runs on two hits in the second inning to open the game's scoring. All three of the Eagles' batters to start the inning reached base and then two straight singles tallied the runs.
Trailing for the first time in the game, App State responded in the top of the third to trim its deficit to two runs.
Julia Girk reached first on a bunt hit before Barrett was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with nobody out. After the Eagles tallied two outs, Gore struck for a hit through the left side to plate Girk, marking App State's first run. Williams singled to third to load the bases, but Winthrop tallied the final out to maintain its advantage.
The Eagles scored three more times over the next two frames to take a 6-1 lead into the late stages of the contest. A fourth-inning homer by Megan Powell accounted for the Eagles' sixth and final run of the game.
App State saw a single from Barrett and a walk to Hamby in the fifth inning, but couldn't answer the Winthrop rally. Varadi struck out the side in the fifth inning to bring the Mountaineer bats back up and they responded with two runs in the sixth inning to close the gap.
Henkel walked to lead off the inning and
Summer Simpson singled to put two runners on. After Winthrop tallied two straight outs, Barrett shot a single into left field to score both Henkel and Simpson to make it 6-3.
Madison McIntyre stroked a hit into right field, but the game entered the final inning with the Eagles ahead.
Varadi kept the Eagles at bay with two more strikeouts in the bottom of the sixth inning, and the Mountaineers used hits from Gore and Williams to put two runners on in the seventh, giving them a chance to tie it. Winthrop didn't let the rally get past the two hits as it retired the next three batters to win the game.
Saturday Notes
Home runs
App: N/A
WIN: Powell (1)
WP – Megan Powell (4-0): 4 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
SV – N/A
LP –
Mollie Bulla (0-1): 2.1 IP, 3 hits, 5 runs (2 earned runs), 1 walk, 0 strikeouts
Up Next
The Mountaineers are set to conclude play at the Carolina Classic with a doubleheader on Sunday. App State will play Winthrop in a rematch from Saturday and then the host school No. 25 South Carolina Gamecocks to cap off the weekend. First pitch from Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field against Winthrop is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. The Mountaineers' second game against South Carolina, which is set for 3 p.m., will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
