WILMINGTON, N.C. – Looking to cap off an undefeated weekend at the UNCW Tournament, the App State Softball came out swinging and scored two in the first to take an early lead, before tallying 12 runs across the third and fourth innings to post a decisive 15-9 victory over UNCW on Sunday. App State closed the weekend 4-0 with the victory.
Homers apiece by
Emilie Ching and
Makayla McClain bookended App State's (4-0) six-run third inning to break the game open. Ching, who homered on Saturday against George Washington, belted a solo blast to left-center field for her second of the season, before McClain ended the inning with a long two-run homer, which was her second homer of the season.
Julia Girk was also a catalyst on offense against the Seahawks (1-3), as she totaled three hits and drove home two runs. Girk played a role in both of App State's big innings on Sunday, stroking an RBI single into right field with two outs in the third and an RBI single into left field in the fourth.
Grace Barrett and
Taylor Schafer helped open the scoring on Sunday with a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly, which helped App State take a lead it wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game. The two went on to combine for four hits, five RBIs and four runs scored in the game. Schafer, who made her collegiate debut on Friday against Kennesaw State, posted the best game of her young career with two hits and a career-best three RBIs in the weekend final against the Seahawks.
How it Happened
The Mountaineers started hot, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead over the host school. McClain opened the game with a walk and stole second base before Ching reached base via a hit-by-pitch to put two runners on. Then,
Leah Gore walked to load the bases and
Grace Barrett drew a bases-loaded walk to plate the game's first run. A batter later, Schafer drove home the second run with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 in favor of App State after a half inning.
Camryn Fisher threw up a scoreless first inning in her second career start, but the Mountaineers couldn't score a
Julia Girk single in the second to extend their lead. Fisher kept the Seahawks off the board in the bottom of the second, and App State opened up the game with six in the top of the third.
Ching opened the scoring in the third inning with a long home run to left field before
KB Bradshaw drove home another run with an RBI groundout to make the score 4-0. After a strikeout, Girk drove home another run with an RBI single, and McClain smoked a two-run home run to left field to make the score 8-0. Although UNCW scored in the bottom of the third, App State carried a seven-run lead through three complete frames.
App State scored six more runs in the top of the fourth to take a 14-1 advantage on the home team. Barrett started the scoring by driving a single into right-center field that scored
Emersyn Presutty, and Schafer singled into left field to bring home App State's 10th run of the game. Then,
Macy Hamby and Girk combined to drive home three more runs before a Ching infield hit plated the 14th run for the Mountaineers. When the inning ended, App State needed just six more outs to end the game early.
UNCW scored three times in the bottom of the fourth to pull within 10 runs, and after holding App State scoreless in the fifth, it scored five runs to extend the game to a sixth frame. Now leading by just five,
Sophie Moshos posted a scoreless sixth inning in her first full frame of work, which sent action to the seventh inning.
App State added on another run in the seventh, courtesy of an RBI single by Schafer, and Moshos ended the game in the seventh to secure App State's perfect weekend.
Sunday Notes
Home runs
App: Ching (2), McClain (2)
UNCW: N/A
WP:
Camryn Fisher (2-0): 4 IP, 5 hits, 4 runs, 5 strikeouts, 4 walks
SV: N/A
LP: Peyton Eckert (0-1): 0.1 IP, 0 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 0 strikeouts
Up Next
App State now looks to the Spiro Classic in Greensboro next Friday-Sunday. While in Greensboro, the Mountaineers will take on Columbia twice (Feb. 13 and Feb. 14), Fairfield (Feb. 13) and UNCG twice (Feb. 14 and Feb. 15). App State will open the weekend with a doubleheader against Columbia and Fairfield, with first pitch against the Lions slated for 10 a.m.
