Softball Preview: West Valley Eagles vs. University Prep Panthers
West Valley is 9-1 against University Prep since May of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The West Valley Eagles will head out on the road to square off against the University Prep Panthers at 4:30 p.m. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (West Valley: 3.4, University Prep: 1.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.
West Valley stacked a fourth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. They blew past Central Valley 10-2. The win made it back-to-back victories for West Valley.
Meanwhile, University Prep had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.3 runs), and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged the Miners out 2-1.
Gracie Hornbuckle spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered one run (which was unearned) on two hits and racked up 17 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in 14 consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Madisyn Rubalcava was incredible, going 2-for-3 with a home run and a stolen base.
West Valley is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. As for University Prep, their win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-2-1.
West Valley beat University Prep 6-2 in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Will West Valley repeat their success, or does University Prep have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
