App State softball was on the cusp of pulling off a massive upset in their quarterfinal matchup in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals against Louisiana Thursday, but the Ragin’ Cajuns fought off elimination at the last opportunity and walked off the Mountaineers in a low-scoring, but intense, game 2-1.
App State made the Sun Belt Tournament for the first time since 2022, going 13-11 in their conference games during the regular season to earn the sixth seed and an automatic bye into the quarterfinals. Louisiana finished their regular season 14-10 in conference play to secure the third seed and the home-team designation in the quarterfinals, setting up their postseason matchup in Troy, Alabama.
The Mountaineers looked poised to grab an early lead in the top of the first as freshman outfielder Leah Gore hit a bullet to right field for a 2-out triple. App State was unable to capitalize on Gore’s hit, stranding her on third base.
Gore would be the only runner to advance past first base for the Mountaineers offense until the seventh and final inning, as Louisiana’s pitching and defense limited the Black and Gold to just 4 hits on the day, compared to 10 for the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Despite the constant traffic on the basepaths for Louisiana, they could not find a way to break through with a big hit. Junior pitcher Sophie Moshos and the Mountaineers’ defense shut the door time after time, stranding Ragin’ Cajun runners on base to keep the game scoreless.
Moshos and the defense faced their toughest test in the fifth inning, when Louisiana smacked back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with 2 outs. Moshos remained calm and induced a fly ball to center field, which freshman outfielder Julia Girk caught for the final out of the inning.
App State finally broke the stalemate in the seventh with another big-time hit from Gore. Gore led off the inning by sending a changeup over the right field wall and out of the reach of Louisiana’s sophomore right fielder, Dayzja Williams, for a go-ahead solo home run, her eleventh long ball of the season.
Despite the leadoff homer and a base hit later in the inning for junior catcher Marti Henkel, App State was unable to add any more runs and clung to their 1-run lead going into the bottom of the seventh.
The Mountaineers got a flyout and a groundout to push Louisiana to the very brink. The Ragin’ Cajuns fought back, notching a single, followed by a double and a walk to load the bases.
With the bases loaded, 2 outs and on a 3-2 pitch, the decisive blow came from Louisiana’s senior third baseman, Sam Roe, who smacked the ball to right center field, where it rolled to the wall. The Ragin’ Cajuns scored 2 runs, and that was all they needed to advance to the semifinals and end App State’s season in heartbreaking fashion.
App State finished the 2025 campaign with a 23-27 overall record. However, they had a 9-win improvement in conference regular season games under first-year head coach Whitney Jones. Last year, the team went 4-20 in Sun Belt regular season play and improved to 13-11 this year. The team has a lot of fresh faces on the roster, and they will look to improve and make a repeat appearance in the conference tournament in 2026.
