Softball Recap: Marquette Beats Newman Central Catholic for Their Fifth Straight Victory

Crusaders

Margin (Wins)

04/01/25 vs Woodland	18
04/03/25 @ Woodland	17
05/03/25 vs Hall	16
05/16/25 @ Newman Central Catholic	14
05/13/25 @ Midland	13

Marquette had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8 runs) and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. Everything went their way against the Newman Central Catholic Comets as they made off with a 15-1 victory. The result was nothing new for the Crusaders, who have now won 17 matches by six runs or more so far this season.

Savanah Erickson made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 13 consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with two stolen bases and two runs. Those two stolen bases gave her a new career-high.

In other batting news, Marquette got a massive performance out of Hunter Hopkins, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with four runs, two stolen bases, and one RBI. That's the most runs Hopkins has posted since back in April. Another player making a difference was Taylor Cuchra, who got on base in three of her four plate appearances with one home run and two RBI.

Marquette always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .575. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Newman Central Catholic only posted an OBP of .190.

Marquette pushed their record up to 24-6 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.8 runs over those games. As for Newman Central Catholic, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 9-17.

Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Marquette will take on Forreston at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. As for Newman Central Catholic, they will face off against Somonauk at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The Comets' pitchers better be ready for this one: the Bobcats have averaged an impressive 6.4 runs per game this season.