Softball Game Preview: New Castle Hurricanes vs. Penn Hills Indians

New Castle is on a three-game streak of home losses, and Penn Hills a five-game streak of away losses. However, someone's due for a change in luck on Wednesday. The New Castle Hurricanes will look to defend their home field against the Penn Hills Indians at 4:00 p.m. New Castle has given up an average of 8.9 runs per game this season, but Wednesday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

New Castle is headed into the game having just suffered their closest loss since April 2, 2024 on Monday. They fell just short of Plum by a score of 18-16.

Mikayla DiGennaro and Keara Mangieri did some serious damage despite the final result: DiGennaro got on base in all five of her plate appearances with five RBI, three runs, and two doubles, while Mangieri fired off two home runs, three runs, and four RBI while going 3-for-5. Another player making a difference was Aliyah Stalczynski, who scored three runs while going 3-for-4.

Meanwhile, Monday just wasn't the day for Penn Hills' offense. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 15-0 to North Hills, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior.

Penn Hills' defeat dropped their record down to 2-8. As for New Castle, their loss dropped their record down to 4-6.

Penn Hills' pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: New Castle hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .380. It's a different story for Penn Hills, though, as they've only averaged .219. Will they be able to contain New Castle's hitters?

New Castle took their victory against Penn Hills in their previous meeting two weeks ago by a conclusive 16-0 score. Will the Hurricanes repeat their success, or do the Indians have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.