AUBURN, Ala. – On day 2 of the Tiger Invitational, the App State Softball team (1-3) dropped two one-run contests to the Auburn Tigers (4-0) and the North Carolina Tar Heels (2-1).
App State and Auburn opened up Saturday with a nine-inning affair that saw 19 runs scored between the two teams, but a late rally by the Tigers forced extras, where they eventually pulled out a 10-9 win in walk-off fashion. The Mountaineers went ahead 8-2 after the fourth inning thanks to a pair of homers by
Grace Barrett and
Julia Girk. In game two, App State faced an early four-run deficit and fought back to tie the score at five apiece in the fifth inning, but a seventh-inning run by the Tar Heels helped them pull off a 6-5 win.
For the day, the Mountaineers tallied 14 runs. Through the first four games of the season, App State has scored 23 runs, good for an average of 5.8 a game. Eight different players recorded a least one RBI, which included a four-RBI game from Barrett against Auburn. Additionally, Girk and
Olivia Cook each tallied a multi-RBI Saturday, both driving home two Mountaineer baserunners.
The Mountaineers also saw four hitters tally multi-hit games across the doubleheader in
Summer Simpson,
Makayla McClain, Barrett and Girk. Barrett and McClain posted a three-hit day against Auburn, helping spark several rallies against the Tigers.
How it Happened
App State 9, Auburn 10 (9 innings)
App State scored eight of its nine runs in the first four innings to open Saturday at Jane B. Moore Field, but the Tigers answered with eight runs in the final five innings to come back and force extras on their home field. After a scoreless eighth inning, the Mountaineers and Barrett, who tallied three more hits against Auburn, drove home the go-ahead run in the ninth, but a walk and a two-run homer by Nelia Peralta won the game in the bottom of the inning for Auburn.
The Mountaineers started the game fast as McClain took the first pitch she saw and smacked it into center field for a lead-off double, instantly generating a scoring chance. Girk walked to put two on for Barrett, and with two strikes, the sophomore smoked the first App State homer of the season over the left-field fence. Auburn retired the next three hitters in order, but App State led 3-0 after a half inning.
Auburn answered in the bottom half of the first inning, using a double, a walk and a two-out, two-RBI double to make the score 3-2. App State's game 1 starter
Sophie Moshos struck out the next hitter to maintain the Mountaineers' one-run advantage after the first full inning of play.
A scoreless third inning kept the score in favor of App State as play moved to the fourth inning, which saw the Mountaineer offense explode for three more runs. The inning started with a Girk walk and a Barrett double, her fourth of the weekend, to put runners on second and third with nobody out.
After the Tigers tallied the first out,
Hannah Forbes put the ball in play and a misplay by the Tiger shortstop scored Girk to make it 4-2 App State. One batter later, Simpson, who came into the game in the first inning, deposited a single up the middle to score Barrett. Pinch-hitting with two outs and two runners on,
Taylor Chumbley made the score 6-2 with an RBI single, the Mountaineers' second three-run inning of the contest.
Moshos used the four-run lead her offense gave her in the top half of the fourth and delivered a scoreless bottom half to bring App State's offense right back up to bat. App State wasted no time to score again as McClain walked and Girk swatted a long home run to right field, soaring the Mountaineers ahead six runs. The homer by Girk was her first in an App State uniform.
Now trailing by six, the Tigers got to work to trim the deficit, scoring three runs in the fourth inning to close the gap to three. The first of two homers by Peralta was the biggest blow of the frame.
Auburn's move to SJ Guerin in the circle proved vital in the Tigers' comeback effort as she mowed down the Mountaineers in the fifth and sixth innings, which gave them a chance to score in the sixth.
Sejal Neas, who entered the game to pitch in the fourth inning, walked three straight Auburn hitters to load the bases with nobody out but was able to escape the jam with little damage as the Tigers scored just once, making the score 8-6 App State as play moved to the final frame.
Nothing came from the App State offense in the seventh, which sent play to the bottom half. The Tigers used two hits and a walk to tie the game at eight apiece, sending play to extra innings. It was App State's first extra-inning game since March 17, 2024.
A scoreless eighth quickly moved action to the ninth inning with the top of the Mountaineer order due up. Auburn recorded the first out of the frame, but both McClain and Girk reached to put two runners on for Barrett. McClain's single was App State's first baserunner since Girk's home run in the fourth inning.
Facing an 0-2 count, Barrett came through yet again, scorching a single into center field to score McClain and putting App State up 9-8 in the ninth inning. App State saw Girk and
Jaylee Williams, who entered the game as a pinch runner for Barrett, get to second and third base, but the Tigers escaped the jam allowing just the one run.
Trailing again, the Tigers sent just two batters to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. The first batter reached via a four-pitch walk and then Peralta's second homer of the game won it for Auburn in walk-off fashion.
Game 1 Notes
Home runs
App: Barrett (1), Girk (1)
AUB: Peralta 2 (2)
WP – Haley Rainey (1-0): 0.2 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts
SV – N/A
LP –
Sophie Moshos (1-2): 4.1 IP, 7 hits, 7 runs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
App State 5, North Carolina 6
Despite not recording a hit through the first four innings of play, App State roared back from an early four-run deficit to tie things up at five in the fifth inning. But a late Tar Heel run in the seventh inning was enough for North Carolina to pull off the win.
North Carolina struck first in Saturday's nightcap, scoring a run off a throwing error.
Mollie Bulla, who made her first career start against the Tar Heels, did well to limit the damage to one run, allowing the Mountaineer bats to take a turn.
In the bottom half of the first, three of the first four App State hitters reached to load the bases with only one out for
Hannah Forbes. Patience paid off for the junior as she worked a bases-loaded walk to tie the score at one apiece, still with just one out. The Tar Heels were able to gun a runner down at the plate on the next play and got out of the first with the game tied.
UNC quickly extended its lead in the top of the second, using two straight hits, an RBI groundout and a fielding error to score two more runs. Bulla kept the damage to two runs, but the Mountaineers couldn't mount an answer in their half of the second.
The Tar Heels struck for two more in the third inning to make the score 5-1. App State couldn't seem to figure out Tar Heel starting pitcher Lilly Parrish through the first four innings as they were held hitless into the fourth inning and trailed by four as play moved to the fifth.
Jones turned to
Bel Varadi to pitch in the fifth inning, marking her first career appearance, and the freshman retired all three hitters she saw to throw up a zero. Then, the Mountaineer offense found a spark in their half of the fifth inning to tie the game at five.
Simpson started the fray with the team's first hit and then walks to McClain and Girk loaded the bases with nobody out for Cook. Cook promptly singled to left-center field to score both Simpson and McClain to trim the gap to just two runs. One batter later,
Macy Hamby shot a single back up the middle to plate Girk, bringing the score to 5-4 with still no outs.
North Carolina recorded the first out of the inning, but Gore kept the offense going with an RBI single to tie the game. The Tar Heels stranded Gore and Hamby on base, but the damage was done and play moved to the sixth inning knotted up at five.
Varadi continued to pitch well in her collegiate debut, working around a one-out double to post another scoreless frame. App State saw a single from Girk in the bottom of the sixth, but after the third out was recorded, the game entered the final frame tied at five.
After Varadi's first career strikeout tallied the first out, UNC used two straight hits to take a 6-5 lead in the seventh. Hamby reached base via a fielding error in the bottom of the seventh, but App State couldn't answer the late run and fell 6-5 in Saturday's nightcap.
Game 2 Notes
Home runs
App: N/A
UNC: Carlie Myrtle (1)
WP – Nikki Harris (1-0): 3 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout
SV – N/A
LP –
Bel Varadi (0-1): 2.1 IP, 3 hits, 1 run (0 earned runs), 0 walks, 1 strikeout
Up Next
The Mountaineers will wrap up play at the Tiger Invitational on Sunday with a rematch from the tournament's first game against the Southern Illinois Salukis. First pitch from Jane B. Moore Field is set for 10 a.m. ET (9 a.m. CT).
