Softball Game Preview: Hillsdale Fighting Knights vs. Cardinal Newman Cardinals

The Hillsdale Fighting Knights will square off against the Cardinal Newman Cardinals at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Hillsdale comes in on six and Cardinal Newman on 17.

Hillsdale is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They skirted past Liberty 3-2.

Lola Jones

Batters Struck Out

06/05/25 vs Liberty	9
05/31/25 vs San Mateo	7
05/28/25 vs Notre Dame	11
05/24/25 vs Branham	12
05/13/25 @ San Mateo	11
+ 5 more games

Lola Jones spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on five hits and racked up nine Ks. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in ten consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Sophia Shelton was excellent, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Newman got themselves on the board against Pleasant Valley on Thursday, but Pleasant Valley never followed suit. They won by a run and slipped past the Vikings 1-0. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Cardinals have posted since April 4th.

The result came thanks to Callie Howard's shutout, as she gave up just five hits and racked up eight Ks.

At the plate, Cardinal Newman's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Izzie Kunimune, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI.

Cardinal Newman's win was their tenth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 24-6. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.2 runs on average over those games. As for Hillsdale, their win bumped their record up to 20-9-1.