AUBURN, Ala. – On the final day of the Tiger Invitational in Auburn, Ala., App State Softball (1-4) fell to the Southern Illinois Salukis (1-4) 11-2 in five innings. The Mountaineers finished their five-game weekend set on The Plains with a 1-4 record.
Makayla McClain's first home run in a Mountaineer uniform highlighted action on Sunday as she swatted the first pitch she saw in her second at-bat for a two-run home run to left field. McClain posted a solid weekend in her first games at App State, tallying six hits in 16 at-bats, which included two extra-base hits.
App State recorded five hits in the final game of play in Auburn.
Julia Girk,
Macy Hamby,
Leah Gore and
Summer Simpson each joined McClain in the hit column, while Simpson scored one of two App State runs. Overall, eight players recorded two or more hits across the five games for the Mountaineers.
How it Happened
Acting as the visiting team on the scoreboard against the Salukis, the Mountaineers recorded the game's first hit thanks to Girk who slapped a single into left field. Southern Illinois didn't let her advance past second base, however, and kept the game scoreless after a half-inning.
Southern Illinois needed just four hitters in its half of the first to take an early 2-0 lead. After
Sophie Moshos struck out the first hitter of the day, a single by Emma Austin, followed by a two-run home run by Jackie Lis opened the game's scoring.
Gore's single in the top half of the second inning marked App State's second hit of the game, but the Salukis were able to post a clean inning. In the bottom half, Southern Illinois tallied two more runs on a hit and an error to take a 4-0 lead into the third inning.
The Mountaineers trimmed their deficit in half in the third inning as Simpson singled to lead off the frame, and then on the first pitch she saw, McClain clubbed a two-run home run over the left-field fence to make the score 4-2 Southern Illinois. It was her first homer at App State and fifth of her collegiate career.
Quickly answering McClain's home run, the Salukis scored twice more in their half of the third inning, extending their lead to 6-2 after three complete. Southern Illinois scored at least two runs in every inning of play to close the weekend.
Recording its biggest inning of the game, Southern Illinois used four hits and a walk to score five fourth-inning runs to blow the game open. Lis' second home run of the day helped deliver the blow, but the Salukis tallied three extra-base hits in the inning. Needing to score two runs to extend the game, McClain walked to give the Mountaineers a baserunner, but Southern Illinois' McKenzie Newcomb finished what she started and put away App State for an 11-2 Saluki win.
Sunday Notes
Home runs
App: McClain (1)
SIU: Lis 2 (2)
WP – McKenzie Newcomb (1-2): 5 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts
SV – N/A
LP –
Sophie Moshos (1-3): 0.2 IP, 2 hits 2 runs (0 earned runs), 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Up Next
A four-game weekend tournament in Columbia, S.C., awaits the Mountaineers next Friday-Sunday (Feb. 14-16). The Carolina Classic, hosted by South Carolina, will feature Miami (Ohio), Winthrop and South Carolina. App State's first contest in Columbia is Friday against the reigning MAC champion RedHawks, with first pitch slated to come at 1 p.m.
