Softball Preview: Mercy Bears vs. Notre Dame Regents
Mercy is 10-0 against Notre Dame since April of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Mercy Bears will head out on the road to square off against the Notre Dame Regents at 4:00 p.m. Mercy is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 9.2 runs per game this season.
Mercy's hitters rose to the challenge against a Cardinals pitching crew that boasted an average of only 2.63 points allowed two weeks ago. Mercy blew past Lowell 14-0. The result was nothing new for Mercy, who have now won six matches by nine runs or more so far this season.
J Villavicencio was a major factor no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run over 5.1 innings pitched. Villavicencio has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings every time she's pitched this season. Villavicencio was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, G Ortega and R Lask did most of the damage at the plate: Ortega scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances, while Lask went 2-for-3 with five RBI, two runs, and a double. Another player making a difference was A Anderson, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
Meanwhile, the Regents came up short against the Tigers on Tuesday and fell 8-3. The Regents have not had much luck with the Tigers recently, as the team's come up short the last four times they've met.
The Regents saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Catherine Salas, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Even though they lost, the Regents didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 11 strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as the Tigers only tossed seven.
Mercy now has a winning record of 6-5-1. As for the Regents, their loss dropped their record down to 5-4.
Notre Dame's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Mercy hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .397. It's a different story for Notre Dame, though, as they've only averaged .234. Will they be able to contain Mercy's hitters?
Mercy took their victory against Notre Dame when the teams last played back in April of 2023 by a conclusive 10-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Mercy since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
