Softball Game Preview: Prairie Central Hawks vs. Peoria Notre Dame Irish

The Prairie Central Hawks will head out on the road to face off against the Peoria Notre Dame Irish at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.

Prairie Central fought the good fight in their extra-innings game against Bloomington Central Catholic on Monday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Saints by a score of 4-3.

Faith Fields spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and three unearned) runs on seven hits and racked up 14 Ks.

On the hitting side, Sam Slagel made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and got on base in all five of her plate appearances with one home run, two RBI, and one double. Another player making a difference was Kyah Creek, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Peoria Notre Dame unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Monday. They fell just short of Illinois Valley Central by a score of 3-1. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Irish have suffered since March 21st.

Peoria Notre Dame also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Lexie Dallinger-Eaker gave up only one earned (and two unearned) runs on 12 hits and racked up six Ks. Dallinger-Eaker has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Peoria Notre Dame saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jolie Mingus, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.

Prairie Central's record is now 9-9. As for Peoria Notre Dame, their record now sits at 6-5.