Softball Preview: Liberty Lions vs. Palm Desert Aztecs
After two games on the road, Liberty is heading back home. They will take on the Palm Desert Aztecs at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Liberty will bounce into Thursday's game after beating Heritage, who they hadn't topped in nine consecutive meetings. Everything went Liberty's way against Heritage on Tuesday as Liberty made off with a 12-1 victory.
Liberty got a great performance from Kate Skinner as she didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over five innings pitched.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Taylor Jennings, who went 2-for-3 with three runs, a triple, and a double. Paige Breitstein was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Palm Desert won against Central last Monday with ten runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Wednesday. Palm Desert never let Palm Springs onto the board and left with a 10-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Palm Desert.
Natalie Rey made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She struck out eight batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Rey has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in six consecutive pitching appearances. Rey was also big at the plate, scoring three runs while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Audra Higgins, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a double. Another player making a difference was Sidney Sherrod, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Liberty's victory was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-3. As for Palm Desert, they have been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-11 record this season.
Thursday's match will be a test for both team's pitchers. Liberty hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .404. However, it's not like Palm Desert struggles in that department as they've averaged .350. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
