Softball Game Preview: Sumter Gamecocks vs. Latta Vikings

The Sumter Gamecocks will head out to square off against the Latta Vikings at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Sumter 3.1, Latta 1.3) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Sumter will bounce into Monday's matchup after beating West Florence, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Sumter had just enough and edged out West Florence 3-2 on Thursday.

Lillie Ivey spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on six hits. She has been consistent : she hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Ariana Evans, who went 1-for-2 with one home run and two runs. That home run marked the first that she launched this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Remy Shauf, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Latta came tearing into Friday's game with three straight wins , and they left with even more momentum. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 2-1 W against the Trojans.

Sumter pushed their record up to 9-5-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to strikeouts: they averaged an imposing 8.75 strikeouts in those games compared to only 3.18 in the others. As for Latta, their victory bumped their record up to 6-1.

Sumter came up short against Latta in their previous meeting on March 8th, falling 3-0. Can Sumter avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.