GREENSBORO, N.C. – Playing in two tight games to close out the Spiro Classic, the App State softball team took down Columbia 4-2 to open the day before falling to UNCG 6-3 on a walk-off home run in the ninth inning to close the weekend. Despite the outcome of the second game, the Mountaineers still closed play in Greensboro with a 4-1 record.
App State's (8-1) eight-game winning streak ended after the loss to UNCG (4-5), but it still made history as the second-longest winning streak in program history, trailing only a nine-game winning streak in 2021. App State's 8-1 start following two weeks of play marks its best start to a season in program history (previous best was 1-0). The Mountaineers own the fewest losses in the Sun Belt as of Saturday.
Makayla McClain hit the game-tying home run in the third inning in App State's win over Columbia (0-4), which was her fourth home run of the weekend. McClain totaled six hits in Greensboro, with four of them being home runs. This included two grand slams in the Mountaineers' Friday win over Columbia. McClain drove home a team-best 11 RBIs at The Spiro Classic.
The duo of
Camryn Fisher and
Sophie Moshos in the circle was lights out this weekend, as the two combined to throw every pitch, while allowing nine earned runs and striking out 31 hitters. Fisher pitched every inning on Friday and went 2-0 for the day, while Moshos picked up a win and allowed two hits to open Saturday against Columbia.
Nine different players recorded at least four hits for the weekend. App State was paced by six hits apiece from
Leah Gore and McClain, while
Julia Girk tallied five hits and reached base eight total times.
Madison McIntyre and
Dakota Daniel each drove home four runs, and
Grace Barrett and
Taylor Schafer led the team with two doubles apiece.
How it Happened
App State 4, Columbia 2
Making her first start of the weekend after going eight innings in relief on Thursday, Moshos posted a scoreless top of the first frame with a strikeout to close it. App State couldn't score a lead-off walk to McClain in the bottom of the first, but Moshos worked around a single in the second to keep it scoreless after an inning and a half.
Schafer recorded App State's first hit in the bottom of the second with a double into left field, but Columbia once again stranded her, and play moved to the third inning. Columbia struck for two runs in the top of the third, using a single, two hit-by-pitches and a walk to do so.
Trailing for the first time in the game, the Mountaineers immediately tied the score at two just two batters into their half of the third. Girk walked to lead off the inning, and McClain struck again for a two-run home run to tie it. Following two groundouts, the Mountaineers saw singles from Gore and Schafer and a hit by pitch from McIntyre to load the bases for
Summer Simpson.
Simpson nearly missed a grand slam that went just foul down the left-field line, but she still managed to work a bases-loaded walk to plate the go-ahead run. The Lions got out of the inning, but App State's defense maintained its one-run lead with a perfect fourth inning.
App State extended its lead with an
Emilie Ching sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-2 advantage. Moshos worked around a one-out walk in the fifth to keep the Mountaineers' lead intact, before posting two straight scoreless frames in the sixth and the seventh to nab App State its eighth straight win.
Game 1 Notes
Home runs
App: McClain (6)
COL: N/A
WP:
Sophie Moshos (4-0): 7 IP, 2 hits, 3 runs, 6 strikeouts, 3 walks
SV: N/A
LP: Lily McCord (0-1): 5.1 IP, 6 hits, 4 runs, 6 walks, 3 strikeouts
App State 3, UNCG 6 (9 Innings)
Both pitchers came out and posted a 1-2-3 first inning, with App State's starter Fisher striking out a pair of Spartans in the bottom half. The Mountaineers broke through on the scoreboard in the top of the second, using a hit by Gore and a sacrifice fly by Daniel to do so.
Fisher responded to her offense by working around a two-out single to put up a scoreless second inning. App State generated another scoring chance in the third after McClain was hit by a pitch and Barrett stung a double into the left-center field gap, and Gore capitalized by driving home McClain on another SAC fly. After Fisher threw a 1-2-3 third, App State led by two through three complete frames over the host team.
Trailing by two on its home field, UNCG cut into its deficit with an RBI double to score a lead-off walk. Looking to answer,
KB Bradshaw, who pinch-hit for Ching, walked and Gore doubled to put two runners in scoring position, but a fielder's choice and a strikeout ended the threat. The Spartans scored again in the fifth inning to tie the score at two, but Moshos stranded the bases loaded with a punch out to keep it 2-2 as play moved to the sixth.
Neither side mustered any offense in the sixth or the seventh innings, and action quickly moved along to extra innings, which marked the second time of the weekend that App State and UNCG needed extra innings to be decided. App State couldn't score its runner from second in the eighth, but UNCG struck out twice in its half of the inning, which sent this 2-2 game into the ninth inning.
App State immediately scored the go-ahead run in the ninth after Daniel shot a single up the middle to score Simpson from second. The Mountaineers couldn't score any more, but they held a one-run lead and needed three outs to secure an undefeated weekend at the Spiro Classic.
The Spartans needed just two batters to tie the score at three with a sacrifice fly, but with two outs, a crucial error on the infield extended the inning. UNCG then stroked a single to put two aboard before hitting a walk-off three-run home run to give App State its first loss of the season.
Game 2 Notes
Home runs
App: N/A
UNCG: Michael (2)
WP: Brooklyn Shroyer (3-2): 5 IP, 2 hits, 1 run (0 earned runs), 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
SV: N/A
LP:
Sophie Moshos (0-1): 4 IP, 6 hits, 4 runs (0 earned runs), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts
Up Next
App State will next head to Chapel Hill for the Tar Heel Invitational next Friday-Sunday. The Mountaineers will take on four different teams while there, facing off with Princeton twice (Feb. 20 and 21), Rider (Feb. 21), N.C. Central (Feb. 22) and North Carolina (Feb. 20). App State will kick things off next week with a doubleheader against Princeton and North Carolina that starts at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. All games will be available to follow along via Live Stats.
