Softball Game Preview: Laurel Spartans vs. New Castle Hurricanes

The Laurel Spartans will venture away from home to face off against the New Castle Hurricanes at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

Things were looking good for Laurel after they put the first points on the board on Tuesday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They fell 6-3 to Mercer.

Laurel saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Lexi Krol, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, one stolen base, and two RBI.

Meanwhile, New Castle had already won four in a row dating back to last season (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4 runs) and they went ahead and made it five on Wednesday. They came out on top against the Golden Tornado by a score of 19-15.

Aliyah Stalczynski and Keara Mangieri did most of the damage at the plate: Stalczynski scored four runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4, while Mangieri went 2-for-5 with one home run, three runs, and four RBI. Mangieri has been hot recently, having posted at least one home run the last four times she's played. Another player making a difference was Angie Gallo, who scored three runs while going 2-for-4.

New Castle kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 20 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in five consecutive matchups dating back to last season.

Laurel's loss dropped their record down to 1-1. As for New Castle, their record now sits at 2-0.

Laurel took their win against New Castle in their previous matchup back in March of 2019 by a conclusive 7-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Laurel since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.