BOONE, N.C. – After opening the season with 18 straight games away from home, the App State softball team will open its 2026 home schedule with the Mountaineer Classic this Friday-Sunday. App State will play a single game on Friday against Furman and a doubleheader Saturday against Furman and Queens before wrapping up the weekend with a Sunday contest against Queens.
The Mountaineers will welcome the Paladins to Boone for the first time since 2011 this weekend. The two teams were SoCon rivals until App State left for the Sun Belt before the 2015 season. App State and Queens are set to meet for the first time in Boone since 2023.
The Matchup
- Who: App State (13-5) vs. Furman (2-18) // Queens (5-9)
- Where: Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium // Mountaineer Classic // Boone, N.C.
- When: Friday, March 6 – Sunday, March 8
Tune In
- Watch | ESPN+
- Live Stats: appstatesports.com (all games)
Last Time Out
The Mountaineers held their own against some of the top competition in the country last weekend in Knoxville at the Tennessee Invitational, holding a lead in every game over their three Power Four opponents. App State went 2-3 for the weekend, posting a run-rule win over N.C. Central on Feb. 27 and a six-run win over the Eagles on Saturday.
App State did something last weekend at the Tennessee Invitational that only one team has done all season: It held a lead against the No. 1 team in the country. App State hit a first-inning home run, courtesy of
Makayla McClain, against the top-ranked Volunteers and held that lead until the bottom of the fifth inning. Only No. 5 Nebraska had held a lead at any point this season against Tennessee (Did so on Feb. 13).
Five different players hit a home run in Knoxville in
Grace Barrett,
Taylor Schafer, McClain,
Emilie Ching and
KB Bradshaw. In addition to her home run, Barrett posted a team-high seven hits and drove in four runs. In the circle,
Sophie Moshos paced the team in ERA at 2.55, and
Camryn Fisher went toe-to-toe with back-to-back SEC pitcher of the Year Karlyn Pickens on Sunday, while striking out a team-high 14 batters.
Leading Off
App State's Friday contest against Furman will kick off an 18-game home slate in 2026. The Mountaineers' 18 home games mark the most since 2016. The Mountaineers will host four Sun Belt series in 2026, as well as two midweek games on March 18 and April 7.
The Mountaineer Classic will mark the first time that App State has hosted a regular-season tournament in program history. The March 6 home opener will also mark the team's earliest start to a home schedule since the 2019 season, when the Mountaineers hosted a doubleheader on Feb. 15 against North Carolina A&T.
App State enters the Mountaineer Classic on its best 18-game start in program history, owning a 13-5 record. The Mountaineers started the year with a perfect 8-0 record before falling for the first time on Feb. 14 in extra innings on a walk-off home run.
The Mountaineers enter the Mountaineer Classic with the fewest losses in the Sun Belt Conference with five entering Friday. App State's only losses this season have come via a walk-off home run or to a ranked team. The Mountaineers' .722 winning percentage ranks 44th in the country entering the weekend.
Because of App State's torrid start to the 2026 season, it enters the Mountaineer Classic as the No. 25-ranked team in D1 Softball's Mid-Major rankings. App State jumped into the poll for the first time on Feb. 16. Entering Friday, the Mountaineers are one of six Sun Belt teams in this week's rankings.
Scouting the Mountaineers
App State totaled a 6-6 record at home last year in head coach
Whitney Jones' first season. App State will look to post its first double-digit win campaign at home since 2022, when it totaled 11 wins at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium.
App State returns an experienced group in 2026, as eight position players who started at least 35 games last season are back for another year. The Mountaineers returned all three of their all-conference players (Moshos, Barrett and McClain), as well as
Leah Gore (11 home runs and 34 RBIs in 2025) and
Macy Hamby (nine home runs and 29 RBIs in 2025).
Additionally, App State welcomed a batch of nine newcomers to the mountain this offseason (five freshmen and four collegiate transfers). App State's incoming class has made an immediate impact already this season as newcomers have combined to scorch 49 hits and bash 13 of App State's 26 home runs. Entering the Mountaineer Classic, four of App State's top five home-run hitters are newcomers.
Entering the Mountaineer Classic, App State boasts 10 top-50 national rankings. Most notably, App State stands in the top 50 in the country in ERA (39th - 2.84), WHIP (35th - 1.26) and strikeout/walk ratio (39th - 2.38). 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 +46 run differential (117-71). App State's pitching staff is allowing just 4.2 runs per game, while its offense is scoring 6.5 runs per game. Additionally, App State's defense enters the weekend ranked fifth in the Sun Belt in fielding percentage at .966. Eight of the Mountaineers' 13 wins this season have come by three or more runs.
App State's offense has been among the best in the Sun Belt, as it enters the weekend with the fourth-most runs in the league and averages 6.5 per contest. Additionally, App State has hit the second-most home runs in the league with 26. McClain paces the league in home runs with nine, which includes two against top-ranked Tennessee last weekend, while five different players have at least two entering the weekend.
Not only has the Mountaineers' offense been strong, but their pitchers have been among the best in the country. App State enters the Mountaineer Classic with the second-best team ERA in the Sun Belt, while also seeing both Fisher (15th – 3.15) and Moshos (third – 1.83) in the top 20 in the league in ERA. Both players also sit in the top 10 in wins and strikeouts, while App State's staff stands 53rd in the country in strikeouts per seven innings (5.92).
Series History
- App State vs. Furman
- Record: 10-9
- Last Meeting: May 9, 2011
- Trends
- App State and Furman are set to meet for the first time since 2011 when the two teams square off on Friday.
- The two programs were SoCon rivals for 13 seasons before App State left for the Sun Belt before the 2015 season.
- App State vs. Queens
- Record: 1-3
- Last Meeting: April 4, 2023
- Trends:
- The Mountaineers and Royals will meet for the first time in Boone since 2023 on Saturday.
- A win over Queens this weekend would mark App State's first over Queens at home.
Up Next
App State will conclude the early portion of its nonconference schedule with back-to-back games in Charleston, S.C., against College of Charleston (March 10) and Charleston Southern (March 11). Both midweek contests will start at 5 p.m., with Tuesday's contest being broadcast on FloCollege and Wednesday's game airing on ESPN+.
