CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A multi-homer game to open the day by freshman
Taylor Schafer and a multi-homer game to close the day by freshman
Madison Fletcher helped the App State Softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Princeton and Rider on Saturday at the Tar Heel Invitational. The Mountaineers bashed seven home runs across the two games on Saturday, with three coming from Schafer alone.
App State's (11-2) freshmen accounted for six of its seven home runs on the day. Schafer's third long ball of the game came at an important time against Rider, as it put App State up for good in the sixth inning after Fletcher's solo home run tied the score at three in the fourth.
Emersyn Presutty then extended the Mountaineers' lead with a solo home run into right field in her first career at-bat before Fletcher capped off a five-run seventh frame with a three-run homer to mark her first career multi-homer game.
In addition to the fireworks provided by the freshmen hitters, freshman pitcher
Camryn Fisher earned the victory in both games on Saturday. She started the opening contest against Princeton (5-4) and allowed just three runs in five innings to earn her team-best sixth win of the season. She then provided 2.1 scoreless, hitless innings of relief against Rider (2-5) to notch her seventh victory of the season.
How it Happened
App State 6, Princeton 3
Both sides went scoreless to open the game, but it was Princeton that opened the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. App State and Schafer immediately responded to tie the score with a solo home run, which was the first of her career, in the bottom half.
Fisher helped keep the score tied in the top of the third frame by working around a single and an error to post a zero. In the bottom half of the inning, McClain singled and
KB Bradshaw reached base to put two runners on with one out. After a groundout, Schafer unloaded on a ball deep to left-center field that cleared the fence to put App State on top by three runs. Princeton got out of the inning, but Fisher kept it scoreless in the fourth, and App State maintained its three-run lead into the fifth frame.
Julia Girk led off the bottom of the fifth inning with her first home run of the season to balloon the Mountaineers' lead up to four runs with nobody out in the inning. Following the long ball, McClain singled into left and
Grace Barrett singled into center to put two aboard with one out. With runners on the corners, Barrett took off toward second base and drew a throw, which allowed McClain to advance home to plate App State's sixth score of the game.
Back-to-back home runs by the Tigers in the top of the sixth cut App State's lead in half and forced a pitching change. App State turned to
Sophie Moshos, who immediately retired the next three hitters to keep App State's lead.
Fletcher got her day started with a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the sixth, but the Mountaineers couldn't capitalize, which moved play to the final inning. Moshos needed just nine pitches to finish off the Tigers to secure App State's 10th win of the season.
Game 1 Notes
Home runs
App: Schafer 2 (2), Girk (1)
PRIN: Zhang (1), Dumais (3), Hale (1)
WP:
Camryn Fisher (6-0): 5 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts
SV:
Sophie Moshos (3)
LP: Kaela Hollenkamp (3-1): 2.1 IP, 2 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 1 strikeout
App State 9, Rider 3
The Mountaineers drew first blood in Game 2, capitalizing on a throwing error by Rider's catcher to plate the game's first run. Moshos, who made the start against the Stags, sat down Rider in order in the bottom of the inning, and App State doubled its lead with another run in the second inning.
Seeing a two-run deficit through 1.5 innings, Rider answered by scoring three runs in the bottom of the second inning. The Mountaineers saw two runners reach in the top of the third, but couldn't capitalize as play moved into the bottom of the third inning.
Moshos kept App State's deficit at one with a perfect third frame. In the fourth inning, Fletcher led off with a deep shot on the first pitch she saw for a solo home run to tie the score. The Mountaineers couldn't add any more, but their defense held Rider scoreless in the fourth to keep the score tied at three.
After a scoreless fifth frame by both sides, App State took its first lead of the game in the fifth inning courtesy of Schafer's third home run of the day. Fisher, who came on in relief in the fifth inning, shut the door on Rider in the sixth with two strikeouts, which sent the game to the final inning with App State ahead by a run.
The floodgates opened in a big way in the final inning as App State scored five times to take a six-run lead. Presutty, who came on as a defensive replacement in the fourth, started the inning with a big fly in her first career at-bat before Barrett and Schafer reached ahead of Fletcher after two outs. Fletcher promptly cleared the bases with a three-run home run to right field to make the score 9-3. Now pitching with a six-run lead, Fisher sat down Rider in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure the Mountaineers' 11th win of the year.
Game 2 Notes
Home runs
App: Fletcher 2 (3), Schafer (3), Presutty (1)
RID: N/A
WP:
Camryn Fisher (7-0): 2.1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts
SV: N/A
LP: Gabi Rodriguez (0-2): 6.2 IP, 9 hits, 9 runs (4 earned runs), 3 walks, 2 strikeouts
Up Next
The Mountaineers will cap off play at the Tar Heel Invitational with a single game against the North Carolina Central Eagles on Sunday. First pitch is slated for 12:30 p.m., and the game can be followed along on Live Stats.
