Softball Game Preview: Drury Blue Devils vs. McCann Tech Hornets

The Drury Blue Devils will head out on the road to challenge the McCann Tech Hornets at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Drury is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.5 runs per game this season.

Drury will bounce into Monday's game after beating Wahconah Regional, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. The Blue Devils came out on top against the Warriors by a score of 11-7 on Friday.

Olivia Perry made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out 14 batters over seven innings while giving up four earned (and three unearned) runs off 11 hits. Perry was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with one triple and one RBI.

In other batting news, Ariana Rivard and Jaylee Moran did most of the damage at the plate: Rivard went 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI, while Moran went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Maddie Saunders, who went 1-for-4 with two RBI and one run.

Meanwhile, McCann Tech had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. Everything went their way against the Colts as they made off with a 9-3 win. Considering the Hornets have won four matchups by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

McCann Tech pushed their record up to 5-3 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Drury, the victory got them back to even at 5-5.

Drury took their win against McCann Tech in their previous matchup two weeks ago by a conclusive 11-4 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Blue Devils since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.