BOONE, N.C. – In Game 2 of the App State softball team's three-game series with ULM, the Warhawks scored at least one run in every inning on Saturday and ran away with a 13-2 victory in five innings over the Mountaineers. ULM plated 10 runs in the first three innings and tallied 15 hits to force a rubber match on Sunday.
App State (17-22, 7-7 SBC) recorded just five hits, but one of those hits was a home run by
Summer Simpson in the third inning, a towering drive off the scoreboard in left-center field. It was the first collegiate home run for Simpson. The Mountaineers saw five players tally hits on Saturday as
Leah Gore,
Marti Henkel,
Taylor Chumbley and
Grace Barrett joined Simpson in the hit column.
The Mountaineers' 13 runs allowed to the Warhawks (29-16, 9-5 SBC) marked a season high for runs allowed in a game for the App State staff. It was a cold day in Boone, and the Mountaineer defense struggled as the Warhawks scored five unearned runs in the game.
How it Happened
ULM got on the board first in Game 2, using a hit and an obstruction call at home plate to score. App State couldn't answer in its half of the first inning, and ULM capitalized on the shutdown frame with four more runs to jump ahead by five after an inning and a half. Trailing by five, the Mountaineers went to work and scored their first run in the bottom of the second thanks to an RBI single by Barrett. It was her 93rd career hit at the collegiate level.
The Warhawks weren't phased by the Mountaineers' run an inning prior, answering with five runs on four hits and a key throwing error to take a nine-run lead. ULM's Morgan Brown delivered the biggest blow of the frame as she sent her second home run of the game out of right field to plate three.
Seeing its deficit increase to nine, App State needed a quick answer. It got that in the form of Simpson's first career home run in the bottom of the third. Simpson fouled off the first pitch of her at-bat and then corked a long home run off the scoreboard in left-center to make it 10-2 in favor of the Warhawks. ULM retired the next two hitters, and despite seeing a single by Gore with two outs, it got out of the inning with an eight-run advantage.
Three more hits helped plate two more Warhawk runs in the top of the fourth, giving them 12 for the day. Chumbley and Henkel each recorded hits in the bottom half of the inning, but play moved to the fifth with the Mountaineers trailing by 10.
Another Warhawk run came across in the top of the fifth on a fielding error to make it an 11-run game, and the Mountaineers went down in order in the bottom of the fifth, which sealed the win for ULM.
Saturday Notes
Home runs
App: Simpson (1)
ULM: Mo. Brown 2 (11)
WP: Bristin Bordeau (2-0): 2 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout
SV: N/A
LP:
Sejal Neas (3-8): 2.1 IP, 8 hits, 7 runs (6 earned runs), 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Up Next
The Mountaineers and Warhawks will conclude their series with the rubber match at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium on Sunday.
App State's first annual Home Run Derby will follow immediately after the conclusion of the game. First pitch in Boone is slated for noon. Admission to Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium is free.
