NORFOLK, Va. – Appalachian State used five runs in the seventh inning of game 1 and then five in the eighth in game 2 to sweep a doubleheader from the Norfolk State softball team on Monday afternoon at the NSU Softball Field.
 
The Mountaineers led by one in the first contest before the five spot gave them a 7-1 victory. The teams needed extra innings in the second game, but Appalachian State had four hits in the eighth that led to a 6-3 win.
 
NSU (8-9) got solid pitching performances from freshman Skylar Swain and junior Hunter Halford, who limited the Mountaineers throughout most of the games until they broke through late.
 
In game 2, the Mountaineers (8-10) tallied the first run of the game in the third, but the Spartans tied it up in the bottom of the frame. Two walks put runners on first and second, and an error on the Appalachian State shortstop allowed senior Julianne Gillo to score from second to make it a 1-1 ballgame.
 
The Mountaineers left a pair of runners on base in the sixth before surging ahead in the eighth. Kayla Fredendall hit a two-run double, and three runs scored on a homer off the bat of Jenny Dodd later in the frame. Coincidentally, Appalachian State also scored five runs late in game 1 on a two-run double and three-run homer.
 
But back in the second game, NSU was able to push across a couple of runs in the eighth. With two outs, Halford doubled home senior Megan Przeslawski, who had started the inning on second due to the international tiebreaker rule. Freshman Jazzmaine Hammond lined a single, almost stretched to a double, to left center to plate Halford.
 
Halford (2-5) allowed eight hits and six runs, three earned, with five strikeouts in all eight innings. All three earned runs came in the eighth.
 
The Mountaineers plated the first run in game 1, as a wild pitch on ball 4 gave them an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. In the bottom of the second, the Spartans tied it up when Hammond launched a solo homer over the center field wall.
 
Appalachian State then went ahead in the fourth. A walk and a single put two runners on, and a base hit up the middle made it 2-1. The Mountaineers then added five runs in the seventh, getting a two-run double from Alisha Josey and a three-run homer off the bat of Baylee Morton for the final margin.
 
Swain (4-3) took the loss after allowing seven hits and three earned runs in six-plus innings of work.
 
Kenzie Longanecker (2-6) gave up six hits but just one earned run with six strikeouts in a complete game victory for Appalachian State.

Hammond had two hits in game 1 and three for the afternoon. She was the only Spartan player to have more than one hit between the two games.
 
The two teams will play a second doubleheader on Tuesday beginning at 11 a.m. at the NSU Softball Field.