NEW ORLEANS – Following a series sweep at James Madison this past weekend, App State Softball juniors
Makayla McClain and
Sophie Moshos swept the Sun Belt Softball Weekly awards, the league announced Tuesday. McClain was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week for the second time this season, while Moshos garnered her first Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week honors.
Moshos' weekly honor marks the first time an App State pitcher has been named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week in the Sun Belt era. The last time a Mountaineer pitcher garnered conference Pitcher of the Week honors was March 18, 2013, when Alissa Shoelkopf was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week. It's the ninth time a Mountaineer has been named Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week.
For the second time this season, McClain garnered Sun Belt Player of the Week honors, making her the first player in the league this season to be named Sun Belt Player of the Week twice. The Mountaineers' sweep of the Sun Belt weekly awards marks the first time that App State has done that since Katie Boyd and Ashley Stubbs swept the SoCon weekly awards on Feb. 23, 2009.
Makayla McClain | Sun Belt Player of the Week
McClain was electric at the top of the Mountaineer order against the Dukes as she batted 5-for-9 (.556 batting average), hit three homers and produced eight RBIs from the leadoff spot. She slugged 1.667 through the three games and walked four more times to accumulate an OPS of 2.359. Her three homers against the Dukes were the sixth-most in the country last week, while her 1.667 slugging percentage was the 11th-best in NCAA Division I.
She started the weekend with a bang by slugging a leadoff homer on the third pitch she saw on Friday and then bashed a solo homer in the fourth inning to mark her first career multi-homer game. On Saturday, McClain bested that performance with a career-best five-RBI day. She tallied a two-RBI single to open the scoring in Game 2 and then smoked a three-run homer high over the left-field wall as part of a seven-run inning by App State to take control and win the series. She fell a triple short of the cycle against the Dukes on Saturday. Starting every game at second base, McClain didn't commit an error on 11 chances and made several running catches to save hits.
Sophie Moshos | Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week
It was a terrific effort for Moshos in the circle against the Dukes as she pitched 15.2 innings of a possible 18 for the weekend and posted a 1.34 ERA with 14 strikeouts. She allowed just 11 hits in her 15.2 innings and got the win in all three games. Moshos' craftiness in the circle helped her escape multiple jams throughout the weekend as she stranded 13 runners. JMU hit just .150 (3-for-20) with runners on base against the lefty.
Moshos started her stellar weekend by tossing a two-hit shutout to secure her seventh win of the season. She allowed just four baserunners in game 1 and struck out three, which included her 400th career strikeout at the collegiate level in the first inning. On Saturday, she picked up the win in relief by hurling 3.2 innings and striking out a pair. Sunday saw one of her better performances of the season as the Brazil, Ind., native went the distance and allowed just one run while striking out a season-high-tying nine Dukes, helping her outduel the Dukes in a pitcher's duel. Moshos stranded 10 runners, which included a bases-loaded jam in the third and two in the sixth with the Mountaineers leading by one run. The junior lowered her ERA by nearly half a run in her three outings in Harrisonburg. Moshos currently boasts the seventh-best ERA in the Sun Belt and has struck out the fifth-most hitters.
App State is set to return home to Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium this Friday-Sunday and will host Marshall in a three-game series. App State's series with Marshall will kick off a stretch of six home games in seven outings. All three games in Boone will start at noon.
