Softball Preview: Highland Trojans vs. Hobart Brickies
Highland and Hobart are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2018, but likely not for long. The Highland Trojans will head out on the road to challenge the Hobart Brickies at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Highland is no doubt hoping to put an end to a three-game streak of away losses.
Highland is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 13 runs on Wednesday, they were much more limited against Lowell on Thursday. They lost 10-2 to the Red Devils.
Highland saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Alyssa Niemann, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. Niemann has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive pitching appearances.
Meanwhile, Hobart came tearing into Thursday's match with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.8 runs) and they left with even more momentum. They put the hurt on the Panthers with a sharp 11-1 win.
Allie Snider tossed a big game, pitching five innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits.
On the hitting side, Keirys Click and Taylor Lopez did most of the damage at the plate: Click got on base in three of her four plate appearances with a home run, two runs, and a stolen base, while Lopez scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Payton Michael, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI and a double.
Highland's loss dropped their record down to 7-7. As for Hobart, they have been performing well recently as they've won eight of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-3 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Highland hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like Hobart struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.9. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Highland was able to grind out a solid victory over Hobart when the teams last played on April 10th, winning 7-4. The rematch might be a little tougher for Highland since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
