BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University softball will wrap up the season playing a three-game conference series with Coastal Carolina May 5-6 at the Coastal Carolina Softball Stadium in Conway, S.C. Friday's doubleheader will start at noon and Saturday's series finale will begin at 1 p.m.
The Mountaineers (14-31, 2-19 SBC) captured their first-ever conference series win last weekend, sweeping UTA in the doubleheader on Saturday, 2-0 and 3-2, and dropping game three, 14-3, at the Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium in Boone. The series victory marked the first conference win since downing the Mavs last year on April 3, and Saturday's 2-0 triumph served as the first shutout Sun Belt victory in program history.
Keri White turned in her best conference-series performance with a .571 batting average (4-for-7) and pounded in two RBI. Teammates Haley Stewart and Heather Josey also batted .500 against the Mavs and Jenny Dodd parked her 15th career jack on Sunday. In the circle, Kenzie Longanecker rang up eight batters to bring her season total to 111 strikeouts.
After 45 games, the Mountaineers average .231 at the plate and sport a 3.99 ERA. Natalie Orcutt leads the offense with a .330 batting average and Longanecker (9-12) has mustered up a 2.63 ERA in 133.0 innings pitched.
Appalachian looks to cap 2017 with three more conference victories and pick up their first win against CCU since Feb. 21, 2009.
SCOUTING THE CHANTICLEERS
• App State and Coastal have played 12 times before, and the Chanticleers have won eight of those contests. In the last meeting, CCU shut out the Mountaineers 5-0 on Feb. 19, 2016.
• The Chanticleers (29-22) rank ninth in the Sun Belt with a 7-16 conference record, and after 51 ballgames, Coastal Carolina bats .264 and owns a 2.90 ERA.
• The last time out, Louisiana snatched the three-game sweep from Coastal to claim the regular season softball title. In the doubleheader, the Ragin' Cajuns downed the Chanticleers 9-0 and 13-4 and silenced Coastal 8-0 in game three.
• At the plate, Preseason All-Conference selection Taty Forbes highlights the offense with a team-high batting average of .409 that includes 30 scored runs, four doubles, one home run and 14 RBI on 63 hits. Teammate Kassidy Smith tops the team leaderboard in home runs with ten, and Kailey Mellen has pounded out the most runs batted in with 33.
• Ashley Guillette and Taylor Rahach have been CCU's Dynamic Duo in the circle both owning ERA under 3.00. Guillette is responsible for an 11-9 record and has recorded a 2.69 ERA in 130.1 innings pitched, which includes 168 strikeouts. Rahach owns a 12-9 record with a 2.75 ERA in 132.1 innings pitched and has fanned 116 batters.
• The Chanticleers return seven starters and welcome seven newcomers to Conway. Last year, the former Big South team ended 2016 with a 37-22 record and went 18-6 in conference play.
• Head Coach Kelley Green enters her eighth year at the helm of the Chanticleer softball program and her first year in the Sun Belt. Green is assisted by Ali Ferrari and Kristin Erb. For the second straight season, Green led CCU to a second-place finish in the Big South, and catcher Morgan Noad became the school and the conference's all-time home run leader (75).
