WILMINGTON, N.C. – The App State Softball team started 2-0 for the first time in program history by completing an opening day sweep at the UNCW Tournament on Friday. App State posted a 5-3 win over Kennesaw State to open the day before coming from behind to record a 4-3 victory over UNCW in the nightcap.
The Mountaineers (2-0) capped off a perfect day by scoring a seventh-inning run to go ahead for good against the Seahawks (0-1).
Grace Barrett delivered the go-ahead RBI, a sacrifice fly with one out in the top of the seventh. The Mountaineers responded to a three-run third inning by UNCW by scoring two unanswered runs in the sixth and the seventh.
Madison McIntyre's RBI double with one out in the sixth tied the score before Barrett propelled App State ahead.
Despite surrendering two runs in the top of the first inning, App State found a way to open the day with a win, using a five-run third inning to come back and win. The Mountaineers made their five-run inning stand up thanks in large part to
Camryn Fisher's strong outing in her collegiate debut, as she threw 2.2 scoreless innings to earn her first career save.
Fisher was dynamite all day for App State, as she also recorded her first career win in her first career start in the nightcap against UNCW. Fisher went the distance against the Seahawks, allowing just three runs and striking out five. Fisher pitched 9.2 innings on Friday and allowed just seven hits and three runs in her first action as a college softball player.
How it Happened
App State 5, Kennesaw State 3
Despite seeing each of the first two hitters go down via strikeout, Kennesaw State opened the scoring with a pair of two-out runs. App State saw
Emilie Ching tally the team's first hit of the season in the bottom half of the first inning, but the Owls stranded her to keep their two-run lead.
Moshos rebounded well through the second and third innings to keep the Mountaineers' deficit at two as play moved to the bottom of the third inning. App State broke through on the scoreboard in the third, tallying five runs to take a 5-2 lead.
Walks to
Macy Hamby, Ching and
Leah Gore loaded the bases for Barrett, who promptly stroked a single into right-center field to tie the score at two. Still with no outs,
Taylor Schafer plated the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly before
Julia Girk smoked a double that plated two more runs. After a pitching change, the Owls retired the side, but App State had taken a three-run lead through three innings.
A scoreless fourth inning by both sides quickly moved action to the fifth inning, which saw Kennesaw State plate its third and final run of the contest to close its deficit down to two. After Kennesaw State plated its run, head coach
Whitney Jones turned to Fisher in relief, who retired the side to help maintain App State's two-run lead through 4.5 innings.
Dakota Daniel opened the fifth inning with a walk, and Girk reached first on a bunt single to put two runners on in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Owls stranded them to keep it a two-run contest. A scoreless sixth inning from both sides sent the game to the final inning, where Fisher worked around a two-out walk and a single to secure an App State win to open the season.
Game 1 Notes
Home runs
App: N/A
KSU: N/A
WP:
Sophie Moshos (1-0): 4.1 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs (0 earned runs), 1 strikeout, 4 walks
SV: Fisher (1)
LP: Olivia Tyson (0-1): 2.2 IP, 5 hits, 5 runs, 1 strikeout, 4 walks
App State 4, UNCW 3
The Mountaineers started fast, as
Makayla McClain mashed a lead-off home run on the second pitch of the game for App State's first long ball of the season. UNCW couldn't answer in its half of the first, and App State scored again in the top of the second after McClain once again delivered with a single down the left-field line to extend App State's lead to two after two innings.
After both sides went scoreless in their next at-bats, UNCW got to Fisher for the first time in the third, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third to take its first lead of the game. Daniel tallied her fourth hit of the doubleheader in the top of the fourth inning, but App State couldn't answer UNCW's three-run inning, and the Seahawks maintained a slim one-run advantage through four innings.
Fisher worked around a walk and a single in her fifth frame of work to post a zero, which kept the Mountaineers within one into the sixth inning. After UNCW recorded the first out, Schafer drew a one-out walk ahead of McIntyre. After
Summer Simpson pinch-ran for Schafer at first, McIntyre shot a line drive into the right-center field gap that got all the way to the wall. This drew the wave around third for Simpson, who scored to tie the game at three in the sixth inning.
Now in her sixth inning of work, Fisher retired the Seahawks in order in the bottom of the sixth, striking out two in the frame. In the seventh, McClain and Hamby led off with singles, and Ching sacrificed them into scoring position with a bunt. After Gore drew a walk to load the bases, Barrett stung a liner into left field that was caught on the run, but it was deep enough to score McClain to give App State the lead back with two outs in the seventh.
Pitching with a lead for the first time since the third inning, Fisher came back out looking to finish what she started, and did just that, retiring UNCW in order with a strikeout and two flyouts. Fisher posted both her first career win and first career save on Friday.
Game 2 Notes
Home runs
App: McClain (1)
UNCW: N/A
WP:
Camryn Fisher (1-0): 7 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs, 5 strikeouts, 4 walks
SV: N/A
LP: Makayla Huddleston (0-1): 4 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs (1 earned run), 3 walks, 3 strikeouts
Up Next
App State will look to maintain its perfect start on Saturday when it squares off with George Washington and Kennesaw State in a Saturday doubleheader. First pitch against the Revolutionaries is set for 10 a.m., with the next game coming immediately after the conclusion of the first game.
