Softball Game Preview: Great Oak Wolfpack vs. Murrieta Mesa Rams

Great Oak hasn't had much luck against Murrieta Mesa recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Wolfpack will be playing in front of their home fans against the Rams at 3:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Great Oak was handed a heart-breaking two-run defeat in their last matchup, but they sure didn't let that happen against Temecula Valley on Wednesday. The Wolfpack blew past the Golden Bears 12-1.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Murrieta Mesa, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Friday. Everything went their way against Vista Murrieta on Wednesday as they made off with a 14-4 victory. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

The team relied heavily on Taelyn Holley, who fired off two home runs, four runs, and five RBI while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Kenzie Farrier, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI.

Murrieta Mesa kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in 11 consecutive contests.

Murrieta Mesa is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten games. That's provided a nice bump to their 15-7-1 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.2 runs on average over those games. As for Great Oak, their victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 17-8-1.

Great Oak beat Murrieta Mesa 6-3 when the teams last played back in March. Will the Wolfpack repeat their success, or do the Rams have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.