App State softball hosted the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and lost the series 2-1.
The first game of the series was a historic win for the Mountaineers. Success started in the first inning when junior infielder Grace Barrett smashed a solo home run over center field.
Later that inning, sophomore infielder Emilie Ching drilled a 2-run shot past left field.
Southern Miss scored 2 runs in the second, but the Black and Gold responded with a monster 8-run inning. The inning was highlighted by the second homer from Barrett, this time a grand slam, and a 2-run shot from freshman designated player Madison Fletcher.
“I just tried to keep it simple, and just doing what I needed to do for my team,” Barrett said.
App State won the game after 5 innings, taking it 17-4. The team tallied 7 home runs in the game, tying the program record for a single game.
Barrett got the scoring started again in the second game with a sacrifice fly, but the Golden Eagles quickly jumped over App State’s pitching, scoring 4 runs in the second inning.
The Mountaineers crawled back in the bottom of the second, a solo home run from sophomore catcher Leah Gore started a rally that saw the Black and Gold tie the game at 4. From there, Southern Miss took off, tallying 3 runs in the fourth and 6 in the fifth.
Southern Miss won the second game 13-4, once again after 5 innings.
The rubber match of the series started off with a 2-run homer from the Golden Eagles in the top of the first. In the bottom half of the inning, senior infielder Makayla McClain led off with a solo shot to cut the lead in half, her 15th of the season.
McClain was all of the offense for the Black and Gold at the start of the game, tacking on her second homer of the game in the third to tie it up. App State took the lead later in the inning on a 3-run jack from Ching.
The third inning wasn’t over for the Black and Gold, as Fletcher cranked a 2-run homer to extend the lead to 5.
Southern Miss responded quickly in the fourth, a 2-run homer that snuck over the center field fence and another one later in the inning to cut the lead to 1. The Golden Eagles hit their third 2-run blast of the inning and took an 8-7 lead.
Southern Miss continued to pour it on in the fifth, scoring 4 more runs to take a commanding 12-7 lead.
App State tried to mount a comeback and had the tying run to the plate after a 2-run single from Barrett, but Southern Miss took the final game of the series 13-10.
“All you got, that was my motto. Today I give my all for App State,” Barrett said.
The Mountaineers take the field again Friday for a three-game series against Georgia State University. The first pitch for the first game will be at 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
