App State softball traveled to Clarksville, Tennessee, to play 5 games in the Cathi Maynard Invitational.
The first game was against the Bucknell Bison on Friday. The Mountaineers got the scoring started when freshman utility Grace Taylor doubled to right center, followed by a fielding error from Bucknell to give the Black and Gold a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
The Bison were able to take the lead in the middle innings from multiple errors by App State, going into the bottom of the seventh with a 5-2 lead.
The Black and Gold got 1 more run across, but Bucknell ended up winning 5-3. App State had 6 errors in the game.
The second game was against Austin Peay. Similar to the first game, the Mountaineers got off to a strong start, leading 3-0 after 4 innings.
The Governors’ offense woke up in the fifth inning. App State’s pitching let up 11 runs in the fifth and sixth, and the game was called.
After two consecutive losses, the Mountaineers were able to get something going in game three against Bucknell.
App State opened the game up by scoring 8 runs in the first 3 innings. The scoring was highlighted by a 3-run double in the first by junior catcher Marti Henkel.
In the second inning, freshman left fielder Leah Gore smacked a 2-run home run to put the Mountaineers up 7.
The Black and Gold were able to get the score to 11-2 and the game was called in the fifth inning.
The winning continued into the fourth game of the invitational against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks.
The Mountaineers scored the first 13 runs of the game against the River Hawks, and the game was once again called in the fifth inning with App State winning 14-1.
A number of App State players had a nice day at the plate, but the game was highlighted by junior second baseman Makayla McClain and freshman center fielder Julia Girk, who both recorded 3 hits and 3 runs driven in.
The final game of the invitational came against Austin Peay. App State got out to a good start in the first inning with 2 runs, and the Governors were able to get one back in the second.
A couple of innings of no scoring followed, with senior pitcher Sejal Neas only allowing the 1 run in her four innings of work.
The Black and Gold were able to extend the lead in the top of the fifth, but Austin Peay scored 2 in the bottom half, and one in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. App State was not able to score in the seventh inning, and the Governors took the win.