KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – In similar fashion to Friday's contest against top-ranked Tennessee, App State led No. 23 Penn State by two runs through four innings on Saturday and looked poised to knock off a ranked team for the first time since 2020. But the Nittany Lions totaled seven runs across the final three frames to post a 10-5 victory over App State on Saturday.
The Mountaineers' (13-4) loss to No. 23 Penn State (15-3) followed a resounding 9-3 win over N.C. Central (1-15) to open the day. App State jumped ahead early with a four-run first inning and survived a three-run rally by the Eagles in the second inning to post the win. The Mountaineers scored 14 runs across Saturday's doubleheader.
App State's offense was powered by the long ball on Saturday, as it blasted four home runs across the two games. Back-to-back jacks by
Grace Barrett and
Taylor Schafer highlighted App State's four-run first inning before a three-run home run by
KB Bradshaw provided the necessary separation for the Mountaineers to post the win.
Emilie Ching clobbered a long home run as part of App State's four-run third frame against Penn State in the final game of the day.
In addition to the home runs, the Mountaineers' offense provided traffic on the basepaths all day, as they totaled 16 hits across the two games. Barrett totaled four hits on the day, while
Makayla McClain recorded five, which included a three-hit game against the Nittany Lions. Schafer also tallied three hits and drove in three runs, while Bradshaw drove in four runs on the day.
How it Happened
App State 9, N.C. Central 3
Acting as the home team in this neutral-site contest,
Camryn Fisher mowed down N.C. Central in the first with three strikeouts, and the Mountaineers immediately scored four runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead.
Julia Girk and McClain combined to bring in the first run of the game before Barrett and Schafer mashed back-to-back home runs to make the score 4-0 after one inning of play.
N.C. Central responded to App State's first-inning barrage by scoring three runs on a hit in the second inning to pull within one. App State couldn't extend its lead in the bottom of the inning, but
Bel Varadi, who came on in relief in the second, kept the Eagles off the scoreboard in the third to maintain the Mountaineers' one-run lead.
App State opened up the game with a big inning in the bottom of the third that saw a long three-run home run from Bradshaw with two outs. Bradshaw's homer pushed App State back ahead by four runs, and Varadi worked around a one-out double in the bottom of the inning to keep it that way through four.
The Eagles generated a brief scoring chance in the fifth inning with two straight singles to lead off the inning, which forced a pitching change. The Mountaineers turned to
Sophie Moshos, and she immediately sat down the next three hitters to squash the Eagles' opportunity. The Mountaineers loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame and plated their eighth run of the game courtesy of a sacrifice fly by
Emersyn Presutty.
Now with a five-run lead, Moshos returned to the circle and posted a clean sixth inning, which allowed App State's offense a chance to extend its lead. They did just that, as the Mountaineers loaded the bases again for Bradshaw, who drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home the Mountaineers' ninth run of the game. Moshos quickly retired the Eagles in the seventh inning, which clinched App State's second win of the weekend.
Game 1 Notes
Home runs
App: Barrett (1), Schafer (4), Bradshaw (2)
NCCU: N/A
WP:
Sophie Moshos (6-2): 3 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts
SV: N/A
LP: Elana Kruper (1-3): 5 hits, 7 runs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
App State 5, No. 23 Penn State 10
After 23rd-ranked Penn State posted a scoreless top of the first, the Nittany Lions scored the game's first runs just two batters into the game as a two-run home run cleared the right-center field fence. App State couldn't answer the home run in the second, but Moshos tallied a scoreless second in response to keep the Mountaineers' deficit at two into the third inning.
The Mountaineers' offense exploded for four runs in the top of the third to take a two-run lead. Ching led off the frame by blasting a home run to center field to cut the deficit in half before McClain drove in Girk from second on a base hit to left field. Then, Barrett singled into center to put runners on the corners, and Schafer delivered a two-run single into left field to put App State on top.
Penn State responded with a two-out home run in the bottom of the third frame to make it a one-run game. Then, after their defense totaled a scoreless top of the fourth, the Nittany Lions reclaimed the lead with six runs on two hits in the bottom of the inning.
Now trailing by five, App State needed a response, and it found one in the form of a one-out RBI double by Barrett to mark her second hit of the game. Penn State answered with its 10th run of the contest in the bottom of the inning to go back ahead by five. Despite seeing a one-out threat generate in the seventh thanks to singles by Presutty and McClain, App State couldn't pull any closer, and Penn State claimed a victory over the Mountaineers to end Saturday's doubleheader.
Game 2 Notes
Home runs
App: Ching (3)
PSU: Oneacre (9), Klosowicz (6), Finarelli (5)
WP: McKennea Young (3-1): 1.1 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
SV: N/A
LP:
Camryn Fisher (7-2): 3 IP, 5 hits, 6 runs (2 earned runs), 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
Up Next
The Mountaineers will wrap up play at the Tennessee Invitational with a rematch against the top-ranked Volunteers on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Sunday's game will be broadcast on SEC Network Plus.
