Softball Preview: Mercy Monarchs vs. South Sioux City Cardinals
Mercy has gone 9-0 against South Sioux City recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Mercy Monarchs will square off against the South Sioux City Cardinals at 1:00 p.m. South Sioux City took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Mercy, who comes in off a win.
Mercy will roll into the game after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up one run on Saturday, then bounced right back against Gross Catholic on Monday. Mercy came out on top against Gross Catholic by a score of 12-8.
Alexis Neufind made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she tossed seven innings while giving up just two earned (and six unearned) runs off ten hits. What's more, she also racked up three strikeouts, the mostshe's had since back in August. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with a triple, two RBI, and a run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Lily Podany, who scored two runs and stole four bases while getting on base in three of her five plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Cloe King, who scored a run while going 4-for-5.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Mercy always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .548. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Gross Catholic only posted an OBP of .343.
Meanwhile, South Sioux City lost 15-3 to O'Neill on Tuesday. The defeat continues a trend for the Cardinals in their matchups with the Eagles: they've now lost six in a row.
Mercy's victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 8-18. As for South Sioux City, their loss dropped their record down to 4-23.
Everything went Mercy's way against South Sioux City in their previous meeting back in August, as Mercy made off with a 12-2 win. Will Mercy repeat their success, or does South Sioux City have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
