BOONE, N.C. (March 30, 2006) - The ETSU softball team (13-22) picked up a pair of victories over Appalachian State (14-18) on Thursday, topping the Mountaineers 5-1, and 11-6, at Watauga High School.  Junior Stephanie Gaynord (Manassas, Va.) recorded a monster 3-for-4 performance in game two, including two home runs and a double, to end the game with six runs batted in, and two runs scored.

The Lady Bucs plated three runs in the first inning and never looked back, downing the Mountaineers in the opening game.  Gaynord led off game one with her team-best eighth double of the season, followed by another two-bagger from Briana Knight (Briana, Wash.), which sent Gaynord around to score ETSU's first run of the game.  Knight would score on her own, coming home on a wild pitch by Mountaineer hurler Keri Blackwelder.

Freshman Jessie Hackworth (Clinton, Tenn.) then belted the Lady Bucs' third double of the inning, scoring classmate Mary Catherine Vercoe (Signal Mountain, Tenn.), who had reached base on a walk.

The Mountaineers managed their only score of the game in the bottom of the first, as a Kasey Motsinger single drove in Natalie Willis.

The Lady Bucs' got another run in the fourth, thanks to a solo homerun from senior Jessica Lonsinger (Dale City, Va.), her second homer of the season.  Vercoe accounted for ETSU's final run of the affair, singling home Janine Sprague (Hillsborough, N.C.).

Courtney Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) picked up the win, giving up five hits and one run in 7.0 innings in the circle.  The senior is now 4-9 on the year.  Blackwelder took the loss after getting shelled for three hits and three runs in just 2/3 of an inning.  The Lady Bucs posted a total of five hits on the game.

Gaynord began game two with a bang, sending her fourth homerun of the season out of the park.  ASU answered in the bottom of the inning when Willis scored on a Kristyn Hurt single to left.

ETSU rebounded in a big way in the second, pounding in four runs, including a three-run blast from Gaynord, her fifth of the season.  Gaynord's two-homerun performance ties the ETSU school record.  The Lady Bucs got their other run of the inning when Lonsinger singled in Hackworth. 

The Lady Bucs got the eventual game winner in the third when Hackworth scored on a fielder's choice.  The freshman led the team with three runs scored in game two, to go along with a commendable 2-for-3 showing at the plate.

It was a slugfest at the plate with ASU nailing nine hits and ETSU with eight.  Neither team was particularly tough on defense, as ASU committed six errors and ETSU ended up with five miscues.

Both teams were forced to empty out their bullpens, with the Mountaineers sending four pitchers to the mound and ETSU using three.  Vercoe finished with the win in 3 1/3 innings of work, to improve to 5-8 on the season.  Teri Fister was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs in a single inning in the circle.

The Lady Bucs, currently riding a four-game win streak, hit the road to Rock Hill, S.C., this weekend, taking on Winthrop in a two-game series on Saturday, April 1.  The first pitch is set for 2 p.m.