MONROE, La. – In App State's first game at ULM since 2022, ULM plated a pair of first-inning runs to take an early lead and made it stand up as the App State softball team fell 2-0 on Friday in Monroe. The Warhawks' Ashanti McDade tossed a two-hit shutout against App State, which marked the first time that the Mountaineers have failed to score in their last 43 games.
Despite allowing two runs in the opening frame,
Sophie Moshos was excellent in the circle for the Mountaineers (24-14, 4-9 SBC), as she went the distance and kept ULM (27-18, 9-4 SBC) off the scoreboard for the final five frames. Moshos struck out two batters and stranded four runners in her start.
App State saw hits from
Julia Girk and
Taylor Schafer in the second inning to generate a scoring threat, while also seeing
Emilie Ching and
Makayla McClain walk in the seventh to keep the Mountaineers in the fight. App State got the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the seventh, but McDade induced a groundout to end the game.
How it Happened
Grace Barrett drew a walk in the top of the first inning, but ULM stranded her at first and scored two two-out runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Hits by Schafer and Girk put two runners on base with one out in the top of the second, but a sharp lineout and a flyout ended the threat.
Moshos worked around a two-out single in the bottom of the second to keep App State within two runs through two frames. Moshos quickly sent action to the fourth with a 1-2-3 third, but the Mountaineers couldn't score a two-out ULM error to keep the score 2-0 into the bottom of the fourth.
App State's defense posted another clean inning in the fourth before working around some fifth-inning traffic to stay within two runs. Schafer reached base in the top of the sixth for the second time via a walk, but a groundout to third ended the inning to keep App State off the board.
Moshos left a one-out Warhawk single stranded in the bottom of the sixth to move action to the seventh. After a strikeout started the frame, Ching drew a hit-by-pitch to put a runner on, and McClain walked to put the tying run on first with two outs. Representing the go-ahead run, Hamby stepped to the plate and worked a hitter's count, but ULM forced a weak groundout to short to end the game.
Friday Notes
Home runs
App: N/A
ULM: N/A
WP: Ashanti McDade (13-8): 7 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts
SV: N/A
LP:
Sophie Moshos (11-8): 6 IP, 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
Up Next
The Mountaineers and Warhawks will meet again on Saturday in the middle game of the series at ULM Softball Complex. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT), and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
