App State softball kicked off their 2025 campaign on the road at Auburn for the Tiger Invitational over the weekend. The Mountaineers played five games in three days against three different programs, winning just one of those games to begin the season with a 1-4 record.
The Mountaineers faced off against the Southern Illinois Salukis in their first game of the invitational early Friday, defeating the Salukis 9-3 and starting off the season with a win.
App State put the ball in play immediately, with junior infielder Makayla McClain leading off the game with a line-drive single in her first at-bat for App State after transferring from Campbell.
The Mountaineers loaded the bases in the first inning and scored twice courtesy of an RBI single from sophomore infielder Macy Hamby and a bases-loaded walk from sophomore infielder Summer Simpson.
App State scored 4 more runs in a big fourth inning. McClain hit an RBI single to center field, sophomore infielder Grace Barrett scorched an RBI double to left that drove in 2 runs, and freshman catcher Leah Gore recorded her first collegiate RBI on a sacrifice fly.
App State scored 3 additional runs in the seventh inning, highlighted by freshman outfielder Julia Girk hitting an RBI double of her own. Despite Southern Illinois hitting a home run in the bottom of the inning, the Mountaineers won comfortably by a margin of 6 runs.
The impressive victory was the first for new head coach Whitney Jones in her collegiate head coaching career.
The Black and Gold could not replicate their performance Friday afternoon against North Carolina, losing to the Tar Heels 8-0.
Junior pitcher Sophie Moshos and sophomore pitcher Ava Beamesderfer each gave up a home run in the game.
The offense only scraped together 4 hits, 3 of which came off the bat of Barrett. The Mountaineers could not capitalize on her performance at the plate and dropped the second game of their Friday doubleheader.
App State played two more games on Saturday. The Mountaineers squared off against the hosting Auburn Tigers Saturday morning, losing a thrilling extra-inning game 10-9.
Barrett continued her red-hot start to the season, launching a 3-run home run in the first inning to give the Black and Gold an early lead.
After Auburn responded with a 2-run double in the bottom of the first, the Mountaineers tacked on 3 more runs in the third inning with help from their young talent. Girk scored on a Tigers fielding error, Gore hit an RBI single and sophomore utility player Taylor Chumbley capped off the inning with her own run-scoring base hit.
Girk extended the lead for App State in the fourth, crushing a 2-run home run — the first of her collegiate career — to put the Mountaineers ahead 8-2.
The Tigers clawed back in the home half of the fourth inning, hitting a 2-run home run and stealing home plate to pull within 3.
Auburn shut down the App State offense down the stretch and sent the game to extra innings by hitting a two-out RBI single in the seventh to tie the game at 8-8.
Following a scoreless eighth inning, Barrett stepped up once again and smacked an RBI single to give App State the lead in the ninth.
Auburn would not be denied the comeback victory, however. The Tigers drilled a walk-off 2-run home run to steal the win in front of their home crowd.
The Mountaineers played North Carolina once again on Saturday. Despite App State performing much better compared to their first matchup, they lost to the Tar Heels again, 6-5.
After a throwing error led to the Tar Heels getting a run across in the first, the Mountaineers got that run right back in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded walk drawn by junior infielder Hannah Forbes.
North Carolina scored 4 unanswered runs in the next two innings before the Black and Gold offense erupted in the fifth inning. Senior infielder Olivia Cook hit a 2-run single, Hamby followed it up with an RBI single and Gore snuck a base hit through the left side to even the game at 5-5.
The Mountaineers made a costly mistake in the top of the seventh inning, allowing a run to score on an error by Forbes to give the Tar Heels the lead they would not relinquish. App State made 4 errors during the game, and those mistakes came back to bite them in the end.
App State wrapped up the Tiger Invitational with a rematch against Southern Illinois Sunday. The Salukis got their payback, defeating the Mountaineers 11-2.
Southern Illinois scored the first 4 runs of the game before App State responded in the bottom of the second. McClain sent a pitch over the left-field wall for her first career home run, a 2-run shot to cut the deficit in half.
The Mountaineers would be shut out for the rest of the game while the Salukis piled on the runs. App State had 3 errors in the game, giving Southern Illinois extra chances to pull away.
The game ended in five innings via the run rule.
App State will look to bounce back at the Carolina Classic in Columbia, South Carolina. The Mountaineers will play against Miami (Ohio) on Feb. 14, Winthrop on Feb. 15 and a doubleheader Feb. 16 against Winthrop and South Carolina, with the latter game being streamed on SECN+.
