JOHNSON CITY — Payton Moore wasn’t known for hitting home runs, either during her softball career at Dobyns-Bennett or as a freshman at ETSU. She also wasn’t known for being a big talker when interviewed by the media.
Flexing her newfound power in the former category gave her the chance to show her stuff in the latter. Facing Southern Conference favorite UNC Greensboro, Moore slugged a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader with the Spartans. The dinger by Moore tied the game at two and helped force extra innings, but UNCG pushed across the tying run in the top of the eighth and won 3-2, completing a sweep of Saturday’s twin bill with ETSU. The Spartans won the first game, 4-0, and were pretty dominant in doing so.
ETSU (12-10, 0-2) looks to prevent the sweep when it hosts UNCG (21-12, 2-0) in the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
“I definitely think that we gained some confidence after that second game,” Moore said. “We came in low, especially after that first loss, but once we started barreling the ball up, and figuring out that we are able to hit their girls, we definitely gained some confidence. There will be probably a big difference in our competition tomorrow. “
Batting as the designated player, Moore had just one hit in the doubleheader but it was a long one — drilled over the wall in right field in the sixth to score herself and Riley Croley and break through in what had been a frustrating offensive day for the Bucs. ETSU mustered just two hits in the first game and only had four base runners in the entire contest.
“That first loss, that really put a hurting on all of us,” Moore said. “I really believe that our key to winning that second game was getting runners on bases, just to move them, and just to score. We needed to score.”
The homer by Moore capped an entertaining battle between her and UNCG pitcher Rhyann Jones, the starter in game two, across three appearances at the plate. Moore’s first at bat with Jones lasted 18 pitches, during which the Dobyns-Bennett alum fouled off an offering from Jones 13 times. That was two shy of tying the NCAA single at-bat foul ball record of 15. Moore ultimately grounded out to second base to end that at bat and the first inning.
“I didn’t even think that I was ever gonna finish,” Moore said. “Like, I was trying so hard just to get the bat on the ball, just to get on.”
Moore’s second at bat came in the fourth, with one out and no one on base. Jones struck out Moore on four pitches, then stomped her foot and hollered in celebration. It was, frankly, an over-the-top response for a rather routine out in the middle of a rather routine inning.
“I definitely saw her reaction to striking me out and it definitely gave me a hard time but I came straight out to the cages and I was like, that’s not happening again,” Moore said. “Definitely not.”
It didn’t happen. After Croley, a freshman for ETSU and Daniel Boone product, singled to right to lead off the sixth inning, then moved to second on a sac bunt, Moore came up and parked the first pitch she saw over the wall in right.
Curiously, during Moore’s marathon AB in the first inning, each of those 13 foul offs sailed to the left side of the field.
It was the fifth home run of the season for Moore, who wasn’t known as a power hitter either in high school at D-B or last season an ETSU.
So, what’s changed?
“Honestly I really have just focused on getting in the zone,” said Moore, who ranks 10th in the SoCon in homers. “Because once you’re in the zone, all you’ve got to do is place the ball. Place the ball where the ball is pitched. Honestly I came in with a lot more confidence throughout this season.”
Moore added that her sophomore power surge came down to “Just trusting yourself and being a ballplayer. You can’t take the fun out of this sport or you’re obviously just going to do poor. You have to do the game that you know and the game that you love.”
UNCG boasts the top two home run sluggers in the conference, and they both added to their total on Saturday. Laney Deane homered three times, swatting both a solo and two-run blast in the opener and another solo homer in the second inning of the second game. Teammate Nya South belted a solo homer of her own in the top of the sixth.
The Spartans scored six of their seven runs in Saturday’s twin bill via the long ball. The only outlier came in the eighth of game two, when a one-out sacrifice fly by Macy Michael plated Avery Bouquin, who led off the frame with a double.
Check out the box scores and full statistics from Game 1 and Game 2.