TROY, ALA.  – Despite a late rally that cut Troy's lead to one run, Appalachian State University softball slipped to the Trojans 7-6 in the final inning on Sunday at the Troy Softball Complex in Troy, Ala.

App State (12-30, 0-18 SBC) had held the 2-0 lead before the Trojans (20-29, 8-14 SBC) scored four runs in the third to help edge the Mountaineers in game three. Appalachian turned in the best conference performance against the Trojans scorings six runs on nine hits and Cara Parker was piping hot at the plate going 3-for-4 and registered her 17th RBI of the year.

Katie Williford  (1-4) started things off in the circle for the Mountaineers and pitched 3.0 innings, and Vanessa Ciocatto  came in relief and rang up two batters.

Game Three: Troy 7, App State 6

Haley Stewart wasted no time in the first, parking a solo jack over the center field fence on the second pitch to snag the early lead in the first.

After an hour rain delay and an epic dance batting, the Apps closed out the second inning with a ground out, and Sidney Russell  opened the third hitting a double that tap danced down the left field line and later dashed home on a Trojan fielding error for the 2-0 advantage.

In the third, the Trojans mustered up a string of RBI to take the 4-2 lead then tacked on two more in the fourth, but Katie Mathewson , Parker and Ally Walters knocked in back-to-back-back RBI single to shrink Troy's lead to 6-5.

Then in the sixth, the Trojans extended their advantage to 7-5 with a sacrifice fly, but App State began to rally back into the game at the top of the seventh when Maddy Bloom pinched in and pounded out a RBI single, but the Trojans stopped Appalachian's last batter to slide past the Black and Gold 7-6.

Up Next

App State softball heads back to Boone for a four-game homestand that starts on Wednesday, April 26 at 5 p.m. against UNC Charlotte and continues April 29-30 against conference foe UTA.