CONWAY, S.C. – Holding a three-run lead as play entered the final inning, the App State softball team needed just three outs to clinch a road series win over Coastal Carolina. But the home team led off the seventh with a home run before tallying two singles with runners on base to come from behind and claim the series over App State with an 8-7 walk-off win.
The Mountaineers (20-7, 1-2 SBC) started the game strong by scoring six runs in the first three innings, which included two first-inning home runs by
Makayla McClain and
Taylor Schafer. App State led by six runs heading into the bottom of the third, but Coastal Carolina (14-14, 2-1 SBC) drew within two runs in the third inning by scoring four runs. Coastal Carolina only scored in two innings on Sunday, but four runs came across in each inning it plated a run.
App State totaled eight hits in the series finale, with McClain and
Macy Hamby each totaling a multi-hit game with two apiece.
Emilie Ching,
Leah Gore and
Julia Girk drove home a run in the game, with Girk providing a key run to extend App State's lead from two to three in the sixth inning.
How it Happened
It only took one pitch for the scoring to open on Sunday, as McClain launched a lead-off home run to left field on the first pitch of the game to make it 1-0.
Grace Barrett worked a one-out walk to start another chance, and Schafer tripled App State's lead with a two-run home run to right field, her ninth of the game.
Camryn Fisher responded to her early lead by working around a two-out walk to post a zero, and the Mountaineers led by three after an inning.
Coastal Carolina threatened in the bottom of the second with two hits to lead off the inning, but Fisher retired the next three batters to post a scoreless inning. App State responded by scoring three more runs in the third thanks to four hits. McClain and Hamby led off the frame with singles before Barrett laid down a perfect bunt that drew an errant throw to score McClain from second. Ching produced an RBI on a groundout, and Gore laced a single off the wall that plated Barrett, which gave App State a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the third.
Now trailing by six, the Chanticleers went to work to cut into the deficit and scored four runs in the bottom of the third to pull within two runs. App State couldn't answer in its half of the fourth, but
Sophie Moshos, who came into the game in the third, posted a zero in the fourth to maintain the Mountaineers' two-run advantage.
Neither side managed to plate a run in the fifth despite seeing some traffic, but it was App State that scored next in the sixth thanks to a Girk RBI double with two outs.
KB Bradshaw led off the frame with a walk, and Girk scorched a ball that hit the dirt in front of the plate into the left-center field gap that scored Bradshaw from first to give the Mountaineers their seventh run of the game.
Moshos held Coastal scoreless in the sixth to keep App State's three-run lead. After a clean frame on defense, the Chanticleers stepped to the plate needing three runs to force extras in their final at-bat. Coastal Carolina hit a home run to lead off the inning, and after an out, it drew three free passes in a row to load the bases with one out. The next pitch, the Chanticleers tied the score with a two-run single into center field. Moshos recorded a strikeout for the second out, but a soft liner to first base went off the glove of Ching and scooted into foul territory, which was enough to plate the winning run to secure the series for the Chanticleers.
Sunday Notes
Home runs
App: McClain (13), Schafer (9)
CCU: Pippen (6), Metzger 2 (8)
WP: Kate Ryan (2-0): 1.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts
SV: N/A
LP:
Sophie Moshos (9-4): 4.2 IP, 7 hits, 4 runs (3 earned runs), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts
Up Next
The Mountaineers will open a season-long seven-game homestand on Wednesday by welcoming the North Carolina Central Eagles to Boone. Two days later, App State will open its Sun Belt home schedule with a three-game series against Southern Miss. First pitch on Wednesday is slated for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Admission to Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium is free.
