CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The App State Softball team posted its best offensive day of the season on day 2 of the Cathi Maynard Invitational, scoring 25 runs to sweep Saturday's doubleheader against Bucknell and UMass Lowell. App State scored five first-inning runs to post an 11-2 win in five innings to open the day before scoring at least one run in all but one inning against the River Hawks to post another run-rule win, 14-1.
App State (9-14) erupted on offense en route to the sweep on Saturday, scoring 11 runs in game 1 before besting that mark with a season-high 14 in game 2. The Mountaineers had tallied just one double-digit scoring game for the season (Georgetown on March 2), and have now posted three 10-run outings in their last four games. App State scored at least once in all but two of the 10 innings played at Cathi Maynard Park on Saturday.
Julia Girk posted a perfect day at the plate for the Mountaineers, tallying six hits in six at-bats and reaching base all seven times she stepped to the plate. Girk posted four extra-base hits across the doubleheader and drove home six of the Mountaineers' 25 runs. Additionally,
Makayla McClain tallied a three-hit game against the River Hawks (3-13) to close the doubleheader, which included her 100th career hit in the second frame.
The Mountaineers slugged .796 as a team for the doubleheader, slugging six doubles, three triples and three homers.
Leah Gore,
Grace Barrett and
Madison McIntyre each hit a homer on Saturday, with Gore's coming against Bucknell (6-11) and Barrett's and McIntyre's coming against UMass Lowell. Girk accounted for two of App State's three triples and
Macy Hamby clubbed two of the Mountaineers' six doubles for the day.
In one of the more complete days for App State this season, the pitching staff bounced off the offensive output well as the trio of
Sophie Moshos,
Sejal Neas and
Ava Beamesderfer allowed just one earned run across 10 innings of work. Neas threw a complete game to open play against the Bison and Moshos and Beamesderfer combined to strike out eight River Hawks in the nightcap.
How it Happened
Game 1: App State 11, Bucknell 2 (5 Innings)
The App State offense erupted for 11 runs to open the doubleheader on Saturday, with five of those coming in the first inning. The Mountaineers saw the first four hitters reach base before loading the bases with two outs.
Marti Henkel delivered the biggest blow of the inning with a bases-clearing double, her first extra-base hit as a Mountaineer.
McClain started the game by reaching first base on a fielding error and was promptly sent to third thanks to Hamby's first of two doubles in the game. A walk to Gore loaded the bases with nobody out for
Taylor Chumbley who took the first pitch she saw and smoked it into left field to score the game's first run.
The Bison recorded the first out via a strikeout, but the Mountaineers weren't done as Girk hit a sharply hit ball up the middle that allowed Hamby to score. With the bases still loaded and two outs in the inning, Henkel stepped to the plate and smacked a bases-clearing double to the left-field wall that plated runs No. 3, 4 and 5 of the inning. Henkel's three-RBI double was her first runs driven in at App State. Bucknell finally retired the side, but App State carried a five-run lead after a half-inning.
With a five-run lead, App State's starting pitcher Neas quickly retired the Bison in order in the bottom of the first to send the Mountaineer bats right back to the plate. The Mountaineers responded to the clean inning by scoring twice more in the second to take a 7-0 lead. Hamby started the rally with a one-out double and Gore whacked the first pitch she saw over the wall in left field to mark her team-leading fourth homer of the year.
Neas sat down all three Bison she saw in the second inning and App State again scored in the third to extend its lead. Girk tallied her second hit, a double, to lead off the inning and scored after
Summer Simpson found a hole up the middle to make the score 8-0 App State after two and a half frames.
Bucknell scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the third, using a hit and two Mountaineer errors to do so. Still leading by seven, the Mountaineers scored three more times to reach double figures for the game and went ahead by 10 runs in the fourth inning. The Mountaineers' offense scored at least once in each of the first four innings.
The Mountaineers' three-run fourth inning started with an out, but Chumbley reached base on a walk and Barrett promptly singled to put two on for Girk. Tallying her third hit of the contest, the freshman laced a triple over the center fielder's head to plate both Chumbley and Barrett to make it 10-0. Girk fell just a home run shy of the cycle in game 1 against the Bison.
McIntyre scored Girk on a sacrifice fly to plate the Mountaineers' 11th run, marking a new season high for runs scored in a game. Bucknell ended the inning with a flyout and after a clean inning from both sides on defense, the Mountaineer defense and Neas closed the game in run-rule fashion, winning 11-2. It was App State's second run-rule victory in its last six games.
Game 1 Notes
Home runs
App: Gore (4)
Bucknell: N/A
WP:
Sejal Neas (3-4): 5 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs (1 earned run), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts
SV: N/A
LP: Madison Roukey (2-6): 0.1 IP, 3 hits, 5 runs (1 earned run), 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Game 2: App State 14, UMass Lowell 1 (5 Innings)
After a scoreless first inning between the two teams, the Mountaineer offense scored in every inning after, which included a seven-run fourth inning. App State stroked 12 hits for the game with six of those coming in the fourth frame. The Mountaineers scored three times in both the second and third innings and tallied a run again in the fifth to get to a season-best 14 runs against the River Hawks.
App State went quietly in the first frame despite getting a two-out baserunner after Gore walked. Moshos, game 2's starting pitcher posted a dueling zero in the bottom of the inning, tallying two of her three strikeouts to post a clean inning.
The Mountaineers immediately responded to Moshos' clean frame by scoring three runs to take an early lead in the second inning. Barrett kicked off the crooked inning by smoking her third homer of the season to right-center field. It was Barrett's first homer since Feb. 14 against Miami (Ohio). Girk kept the inning going with a walk and then stole second base to put another runner in scoring position with nobody out.
After a strikeout marked the first out, Henkel walked to put two on before the River Hawks posted the second out. But the Mountaineers weren't fazed by the River Hawk defense as McClain scorched a triple to center field to score both Girk and Henkel to shoot App State ahead three at the end of the inning. McClain's booming triple was her 100th career hit.
UMass Lowell got its first hit of the game to lead off the bottom half of the second, but Henkel stopped the rally by gunning down a would-be base stealer at second base. App State responded to Henkel's caught stealing by tallying three more runs in the third inning to go ahead by six.
Chumbley reached base with one out to start things off and Girk drove her home with her second double of the doubleheader. After advancing to third base on a passed ball, McIntyre smoked her second homer in as many days over the right-field wall to score Girk and make it 6-0. McIntyre has now hit three homers in her last 10 games. UMass Lowell tallied the final out, but App State's hot offense had propelled it ahead big early.
Moshos continued to mow down the River Hawks in the bottom of the third inning, striking out her third hitter of the game in the process. The Mountaineers followed that up with their biggest inning of the day, scoring seven runs on six hits. McClain took the first pitch she saw in the inning and shot it into left field for a hit. She was followed by a walk to Hamby and then Gore put the ball in play and reached first on an error to score McClain, making it 7-0.
Still with nobody out, Chumbley kept the rally going by driving a single up the middle to plate Hamby and Barrett walked to load the bases. Girk's fifth hit of the day helped score two more runs before Simpson whacked a single into left field to plate two more. Not done yet, McClain tallied her second hit of the inning, which plated Henkel to make the score 13-0 App State after four innings.
The River Hawks scored their first run of the game in the fourth inning to trim into their deficit, but a two-out triple by Girk, her second of the doubleheader, and a double by McIntyre scored App State's 14th run of the game. Beamesderfer, who came on in relief in the fourth inning, shut out UMass Lowell in the fifth to seal the Mountaineers' second run-rule victory of the day.
Game 2 Notes
Home runs
App: Barrett (3), McIntyre (2)
UML: N/A
WP:
Sophie Moshos (5-4): 3 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts
SV: N/A
LP: Olivia Decitise (1-5): 4 IP, 7 hits, 8 runs (5 earned runs), 3 walks, 3 strikeouts
Up Next
App State will wrap up play at the Cathi Maynard Invitational on Sunday by facing the Austin Peay Governors for the second time of the weekend. Sunday's contest is set to open at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT) and can be streamed on ESPN+.
