Softball Preview: DuPont Manual Crimsons vs. Mercy Jaguars
The DuPont Manual Crimsons will stay at home for another game and welcome the Mercy Jaguars at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. DuPont Manual is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 7.7 runs per game this season.
DuPont Manual is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 11 runs on Saturday, they were much more limited against Male on Tuesday. They wound up on the wrong side of a rough 10-2 walloping at the hands of the Bulldogs.
DuPont Manual got a good showing from Olivia Kunkle, who pitched 1.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
At the plate, DuPont Manual saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Hailey Kincaid, who went 1-for-3 with a double. Kincaid has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
Meanwhile, Mercy waltzed into their matchup on Thursday with two straight wins... but they left with three. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Chargers a 10-0 shutout.
The team relied heavily on Madison Degrella, who scored two runs while going 3-for-3. Allie Streble was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 1-for-2.
DuPont Manual has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-6 record this season. As for Mercy, they pushed their record up to 11-10 with that victory, which was their third straight at home.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. DuPont Manual hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Mercy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
DuPont Manual was able to grind out a solid win over Mercy in their previous matchup back in April of 2023, winning 3-0. Will DuPont Manual repeat their success, or does Mercy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
