APP State Softball Breaks Home Run Record in Regular-Season Finale
BATTING:
2B: McClain, Makayla 1
3B: McClain, Makayla 1
HR: McClain, Makayla 1; Hamby, Macy 1; Gore, Leah 1; Simpson, Summer 1
RBI: McClain, Makayla 1; Hamby, Macy 2; Gore, Leah 2; Simpson, Summer 1
BASERUNNING:
RUNS: McClain, Makayla 3; Hamby, Macy 1; Gore, Leah 1; Simpson, Summer 1
Game Leaders
Makayla McClain
#15 McClain, Makayla
AB 4
R 3
H 4
RBI 1
BOONE, N.C. – Leading off the fifth inning, Summer Simpson took the first pitch she saw in her second at-bat of the game and sent it soaring out of the ballpark to center field, marking App State Softball’s 54th home run of the season. This home run set the program record for home runs in a season, which was 53 set by the 2022 team.
The Mountaineers hit four home runs in the game, capped off by back-to-back seventh-inning long balls from Macy Hamby and Leah Gore, but Coastal Carolina tallied six runs in the sixth inning with the score tied to give it a 9-6 win in the series finale. Between the two teams, seven home runs were hit to wrap up the regular season.
In what was a high-scoring game with several milestones, Makayla McClain accomplished a feat that few others in program history have done. McClain hit for the cycle after serving a seventh-inning triple to right field, marking the first time since at least 2010 that a Mountaineer has recorded a cycle. McClain tallied a double in the first, a single in the third, a solo home run in the fifth and a triple in the seventh to complete it.
App State (23-26, 13-11 SBC) outhit Coastal Carolina (37-17, 13-11 SBC) 11-8 in the game, but the long ball bit the App State defense on Saturday. Coastal Carolina hit three home runs in the game – a three-run homer, a solo homer and a two-run homer – which helped it to the victory. After App State tied the game at three apiece in the bottom of the fifth inning, Coastal used two of their three long balls to jump back ahead, which secured the victory.
How it Happened
Making her 26th start of the season, Sophie Moshos retired the Chanticleers in order in the top of the first. McClain started her historic day by bashing a double off the center-field wall that missed being a home run by a few inches before Hamby reached on an infield hit to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Bearing down, the Coastal defense turned a double play and forced a popout to swiftly end the inning, keeping the game scoreless.
Neither team scored in the second inning, and Moshos put up another perfect third frame, sending the ball game to the bottom of the third. App State totaled three hits in the bottom half of the third frame, which helped score the game’s first run.
McClain’s second hit – a single to left – with one out preceded a Hamby single into right field, putting two runners on for Gore. Working a 1-1 count, Gore smoked a single through the left side that plated McClain for the game’s first run. The Chanticleers kept the damage to just the one run, but App State led through three.
Coastal took its first lead of the game in the top of the fourth, using a three-run home run to do so. Coastal saw two more runners reach after the home run, but Moshos limited the damage to three and kept App State’s deficit to two. Both teams went quietly in their next at-bat, but the Mountaineers did what they have done all series and found a rebuttal in the bottom of the fifth.
On the first pitch of the fifth inning, Simpson unloaded on a middle-middle pitch and sent a home run over the center-field wall, App State’s 54th of the season, which set the program record for home runs in a season. A batter later, McClain sent her team-leading 14th home run over the left-field wall to tie the score at three. The Chanticleers sat down the next three hitters in order to close the inning, but the game moved to the sixth with the score tied at three.
With the score tied, the Chanticleers scored six runs in the top of the sixth on five hits to take a six-run lead. Two big home runs through the first three batters helped start the rally before a fielding error with two outs allowed three unearned runs to score. The Mountaineers couldn’t answer, and the regular-season finale went to the final inning with Coastal on top by six.
Sejal Neas, who came on in relief in the sixth inning, posted a scoreless top of the seventh. Needing six runs to force extras, Coastal Carolina retired the first two hitters before McClain smacked a triple to right field to complete the cycle. On the next pitch, Hamby hit a towering home run over the left-field wall to make the score 9-5. For the second time in the game, App State went back-to-back as Gore swatted a solo home run that cleared the scoreboard in left-center field to make it a three-run game.
Looking to keep the rally going, the Chanticleers switched pitchers, and Barrett singled into left field. But Coastal ended the game and salvaged the series by forcing a groundout to first base.
Saturday Notes
Home runs
App: Simpson (2), McClain (14), Hamby (9), Gore (10)
CCU: Hood 2 (18), Jennings (11)
WP: Nicolette Picone (24-9): 6.2 IP, 10 hits, 6 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
SV: Abby Henderson (1)
LP: Sophie Moshos (16-9): 5 IP, 5 hits, 6 runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts
Up Next
App State will head to the Sun Belt Tournament for the first time since 2022. The Mountaineers have clinched a top-six seed in the tournament, meaning they will play Thursday, May 8. All games at the 2025 Sun Belt Softball Tournament can be streamed on ESPN+ with the championship game airing on ESPN+