Softball Game Preview: Lumberton Panthers vs. Sacred Heart Crusaders

Lumberton is 1-9 against Sacred Heart since April of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Lumberton Panthers will welcome the Sacred Heart Crusaders at 6:30 p.m. This will be Lumberton's first chance to prove their worth in the conference.

It was a proper cat-fight when Lumberton challenged Hattiesburg on Wednesday. Lumberton lost 14-4 to Hattiesburg. The loss was the Panthers' first of the season.

Meanwhile, Sacred Heart fought the good fight in their extra-innings matchup against Meridian on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Wildcats by a score of 10-8. The contest marked the Crusaders' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Jana Phillips was cooking despite her team's loss, going 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and one triple. Merci Garner was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.

Sacred Heart moved to 4-1 with that loss, which also ended their four-game winning streak. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 14.8 runs. As for Lumberton, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 1-1-1.

Lumberton came out on top in a nail-biter against Sacred Heart when the teams last played back in April of 2024, sneaking past 8-7. Will Lumberton repeat their success, or does Sacred Heart have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.