Softball Game Preview: Slippery Rock Rockets vs. Hickory Hornets

Slippery Rock is 1-9 against Hickory since April of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Rockets will host the Hornets at 4:00 p.m. Neither Slippery Rock nor Hickory posted many runs in their last games, so it might be the pitching crews that decide this one.

Slippery Rock is headed into Thursday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their seventh straight game dating back to last season on Wednesday. They came up short against Jamestown, falling 7-0.

Meanwhile, Hickory fell victim to Wilmington and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 1-0 to the Greyhounds, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. The Hornets have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Hickory saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Payton Leunis, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one double. That stolen base marked the first that Leunis snagged this season.

Slippery Rock's loss dropped their record down to 0-5. As for Hickory, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-5.

Slippery Rock suffered a grim 10-3 defeat to Hickory in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Can the Rockets avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.