Both the Appalachian State softball and baseball teams opened up the 2013 seasons this past weekend.
The softball team played five games at the LaQuinta Inn & Suites/FGCU Invitational in Fort Myers, Fla., while baseball stayed in the state with one game at N.C. State University and a home game against Canisius University.
Nunn is SoCon Pitcher of the Week, helps Mountaineers to 2-0 start
The baseball team (2-0) should have four games under its belt by now, but a snowstorm in Raleigh wiped out the final two games of their series against No. 8 N.C. State.
Sophomore pitcher Jamie Nunn earned Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week for his performance against the Wolfpack that helped the team earn a 6-3 victory. He was also named SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week.
Nunn sat down the first nine batters he faced and struck out five in six innings of work.
Other than Nunn’s pitching, the biggest key to the team’s success so far has been the power hitting.
App State has 10 extra-base hits through the first two games, including three home runs during the second inning Monday on the way to a 13-6 rout of Canisius during their home opener.
“Our approach is try to get your feet on the ground, squared up and try to hit it hard,” head coach Billy Jones said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to run into a few balls. Good things happen when you just try to hit the ball up the middle.”
Jones also believes there is room to improve from the mound, despite the early success.
“We haven’t thrown strike one enough — I thought we were behind on the mound,” Jones said. “But the positive to that is I thought we fought out some situations. We’ve been a little sloppy defensively the first two games, which is going to happen, but we have to make sure we’re locked in every day.”
The Mountaineers stay at home this weekend for a three-game series against Butler beginning with a doubleheader Saturday, Feb. 23.
Softball struggles early, still showing ‘a lot of grit’
The season hasn’t started as successfully for the softball team compared to the baseball team.
The team opened the season on a high note with a 10-9 victory over Southern Illinois, despite falling in a 1-7 hole early in the contest.
The Mountaineers fought back to tie the game at nine in the seventh inning and eventually won the game in its final at-bat thanks to an RBI single by catcher Sarah Warnock in the bottom of the eighth.
“In our first game against Southern Illinois, we spotted them seven runs,” head coach Shea Wesley said. “But for a team as young as we are to battle all the way back and come out on top of that game shows a lot of grit, especially by our younger players.”
Since then, however, the team has dropped four straight and failed to score more than three runs in each of those games.
“As far as our consistency from the first out to the last out, it was definitely there,” Wesley said. “The record doesn’t show what we did, but there are a lot of positives to take out of the weekend.”
The women will be back on the road Tuesday, Feb. 26 for a game against University of South
Carolina Upstate.
Story: JORDAN DAVIS, Sports Reporter
Photo: OLIVIA WILKES, Senior Photographer