NEW ORLEANS – For the third time this season, App State Softball junior infielder
Makayla McClain has been named the Sun Belt Player of the Week. McClain also garnered NFCA Co-Player of the Week honors, marking the first time an App State player has received that award.
After making history against Coastal Carolina in the final weekend of the regular season, McClain became the first Mountaineer to be named conference player of the week three times in the same season. She joined Katie Boyd (five times) and
Kayt Houston (three times) as the only players in program history to earn a conference player of the week award three or more times in their career.
The Liberty, N.C., native posted a .818/.846/1.545 slash line in the Mountaineers' series victory over Coastal Carolina. She picked up nine hits in 11 at-bats and reached base all but two times in 13 plate appearances. McClain posted four extra-base hits – three doubles, a triple and a homer – and scored six of App State's 20 runs in the series.
In the series finale, McClain became the first Mountaineer in program history to hit for the cycle, recording a double in the first, a single in the third, a home run in the fifth and a triple in the seventh. It was just the 29th four-hit game ever produced by a Mountaineer.
Nationally, McClain's outstanding week helped her solidify top-25 rankings in batting average (11th), doubles (sixth), hits (fourth), on-base percentage (10th), runs scored (15th), total bases (eighth), triples (seventh) and slugging percentage (18th).
App State and McClain will next hit the field at the Sun Belt Tournament in Troy, Ala., on Thursday against third-seeded Louisiana. When the Mountaineers take the field, it will mark their first appearance at the Sun Belt Tournament since 2022. First pitch from the Troy University Softball Complex is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT). All games at the tournament prior to the championship game can be streamed on ESPN+.
