Softball Game Preview: South Range Raiders vs. Columbiana Clippers

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Previous 3 Games

05/16/24 - Home	13-3 W
05/09/17 - Away	5-0 W
04/21/16 - Home	1-0 W

South Range is a perfect 3-0 against Columbiana since April of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Saturday. The Raiders will be playing at home against the Clippers at 11:00 a.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (South Range 3.4, Columbiana 3.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when South Range and Lakeview meet (three straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Friday. The Raiders fell 9-4 to the Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, Columbiana waltzed into their match on Thursday with eight straight wins... but they left with nine. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Golden Eagles a 5-0 shutout.

Not much got past Addison Brode, who gave up just five hits and racked up 15 Ks to keep United off the board. Brode has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in five consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Caitlynn Pleska, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Maryn Hepler was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.

Columbiana pushed their record up to 16-5 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.7 runs over those games. As for South Range, their loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 7-1 and their overall record down to 11-6.

Everything went South Range's way against Columbiana when the teams last played back in May of 2024, as South Range made off with a 13-3 win. Do the Raiders have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Clippers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.