Softball Game Preview: Nedrose Cardinals vs. Washburn Cardinals

Nedrose are taking a road trip to square off against Washburn at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Nedrose knows how to get runs on the board -- the squad has finished with ten runs or more in their past five matches -- so hopefully Washburn likes a good challenge.

Nedrose is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of North Dakota's top teams: Rugby, who was ranked 14th at the time (Nedrose was ranked fifth). The Cardinals put the hurt on the Panthers with a sharp 19-4 win on Thursday. While the Cardinals didn't have the best season last year (they finished 5-8-1), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Meanwhile, Washburn might've scored the first runs on Monday, but it was Beulah who claimed the real prize. The Cardinals might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 13-2 to the Miners, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. The defeat continues a trend for the Cardinals in their meetings with the Miners: they've now lost five in a row.

Nedrose pushed their record up to 5-0 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they've averaged 17.8 runs this season. As for Washburn, they now have a losing record of 1-2.