By Jacob Plecker. GREENVILLE, N.C. – In the seventh inning of game 1 against Youngstown State, Kayt Houston’s one-out single notched her 200th career hit, making her just the fourth Mountaineer in program history to join the 200-hit club.
Despite Houston’s milestone, the App State Mountaineers (9-9) dropped a pair of close contests on Saturday at the Purple-Gold Invitational in Greenville, N.C., the home of East Carolina University. The Mountaineers jumped out to early leads in both games, but one big inning in each game helped both Youngstown State and Saint Joseph’s pick up wins, 5-2 and 3-2, respectively.
The Mountaineers saw traffic on the basepaths throughout each game but couldn’t get the timely hits with runners on when they needed them. App State had a runner reach in six of the seven innings in game 1 and all seven innings in game 2, tallying 15 hits in the two games.
The trio of Sejal Neas, Kaylie Northrop and Jenna Samuel pitched well on Saturday, allowing just four earned runs and striking out 15 batters throughout the day. The pitchers made each hitter work as the pitching staff allowed just two walks across the two games.
Olivia Cook had a good day at the plate as she recorded two hits, one in each game, and drove home a run. Houston picked up three hits on the day and an RBI in game 2.
