BOONE, N.C. – After a five-game road trip that saw stops at Charleston and Conway, the App State softball team is slated to open up a season-long six-game homestand and its Sun Belt home schedule with a series against Southern Miss this Friday-Sunday. All three contests at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium will be broadcast on ESPN+, with action set to get started on Friday at 6 p.m.
Reminder that admission to all home softball games at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium is free.
The Matchup
- Who: App State (20-7, 1-2 SBC) vs. Southern Miss (20-12, 2-1 SBC)
- Where: Sywassink/Lloyd Stadium // Boone, N.C.
- When: Friday, March 20 - Sunday, March 22
Tune In
- Watch | ESPN+ (All Games)
- Live Stats: appstatesports.com (All Games)
Last Time Out
In the team's first series of Sun Belt play, App State took the first game against the reigning Sun Belt Tournament champion Coastal Carolina, but fell in the final two games (both one-run games), which gave the Chanticleers the series win.
Makayla McClain led App State's offense in Conway with a team-high four hits, which included a lead-off home run in the series finale.
Macy Hamby,
KB Bradshaw,
Emilie Ching and
Taylor Schafer also slugged a home run against the Chanticleers, while
Grace Barrett led the team in RBIs with three.
The Mountaineers totaled nine extra-base hits against Coastal Carolina. Bradshaw led the team in that category with two (a triple and a home run), while
Julia Girk, McClain and Barrett each swatted a double. Bradshaw's triple marked her team-leading second of the season.
Leading Off
App State's Friday contest against Southern Miss marks the start of a season-long six-game homestand, which includes two series against Sun Belt opponents Southern Miss (March 20-22) and Georgia State (March 27-29). This marks the longest homestand for App State since also playing six straight games at home from March 28 to April 7, 2024.
App State enters the weekend with a 4-0 record at home this season, which marks the best start to the team's home schedule in the Sun Belt era (previous best start was 3-0 back in 2019). App State sits just two wins away from matching its total of home wins in 2025 and 2024 (six).
App State enters the weekend with 20 wins overall this season, which is three short of matching the team's mark from last season. App State stands 12 wins shy of surpassing the program record of 31 wins (done twice in 2013 and 2019) with 23 regular-season games remaining.
The Mountaineers enter this weekend's series against the Golden Eagles with the best winning percentage in the Sun Belt Conference, boasting a .741 mark. App State is one of two teams (Southern Miss) in the league with 20 wins entering the weekend and one of 49 teams nationally with 20 or more wins.
Because of App State's strong start to the season, it jumped into the D1 Softball Mid-Major rankings on Feb. 16 for the first time, earning the No. 24 spot. The Mountaineers enter this weekend's series against Southern Miss ranked 25th in the March 16 poll. App State is one of five Sun Belt teams in this week's poll.
Scouting the Mountaineers
Entering this weekend's series vs. Southern Miss, App State ranks 71st in the NCAA RPI rankings as of March 18. App State currently owns the sixth-highest RPI in the Sun Belt Conference entering the weekend. This would mark App State's best RPI finish among Sun Belt Conference teams ever.
Entering the weekend, App State boasts 18 top-50 national rankings. Most notably, App State stands in the top 50 in the country in ERA (29th - 2.86), slugging percentage (34th - .546), strikeout/walk ratio (34th - 2.32) and walks (31st - 117). To put that into context, App State finished with a top-50 national ranking in just one category last season (home runs per game - 40th).
The Mountaineers have played complete this season, and enter play this weekend with a +108 run differential (202-94). App State's pitching staff is allowing just 3.5 runs per game, while its offense is scoring 7.5 runs per game. Additionally, App State's defense enters the weekend with a .968 fielding percentage, which would be the second-highest in a season in program history. 15 of the Mountaineers' 20 wins this season have come by three or more runs.
Through 27 games this season, App State ranks 16th nationally in home runs (43) and home runs per game (1.59). App State has already posted 13 games with more than one home run this season. The Mountaineers have hit at least two home runs in 28 games in the Jones era (totaled 15 last season).
App State's offense has been among the best in the Sun Belt, as it enters the weekend with the most runs in the league (202). The Mountaineers have scored 10 or more runs nine times this season, which includes six of their previous nine contests. Before the streak came to an end on March 13, App State totaled at least 10 runs in six straight games, which marked the longest streak in program history.
Through 27 games this season, it's become clear that the Mountaineers boast two of the top freshmen in the Sun Belt Conference. Schafer enters the weekend as the Sun Belt's leader among freshmen in both home runs (nine) and RBIs (31). These marks also rank among the top 10 in the NCAA among freshmen. In the circle, freshman
Camryn Fisher has become one of the top pitchers in the Sun Belt, as she stands third in the league in wins (11), 15th in ERA (3.12) and fifth in strikeouts (76).
App State's batch of nine newcomers has stepped up to the challenge so far this season, as newcomers have combined to scorch 73 hits and have hit 23 home runs. Entering the weekend, four of App State's top five home-run hitters are newcomers.
Series History
- App State vs. Southern Miss
- Record: 1-2
- Last Meeting: April 27, 2025
- Trends
- The Golden Eagles' trip to Boone will mark their first visit to Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium.
- Southern Miss took the series against App State last April in what was the first meeting between the two teams ever.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will continue their season-long six-game homestand next weekend by welcoming the Georgia State Panthers to Boone for a three-game set starting Friday, March 27. Next weekend will be alumni weekend at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium. First pitch against the Panthers is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday, and all three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
