Softball Preview: Auburn Bulldogs vs. Nebraska City Pioneers
The Auburn Bulldogs will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against the Nebraska City Pioneers. Auburn is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.9 runs per game this season.
On Saturday, Auburn needed a bit of extra time to put away Freeman. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Falcons , sneaking past 6-5.
Gretchen Paschal spent all nine innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned (and one unearned) runs on seven hits and racked up seven Ks. That's the most strikeouts she has posted since back in August.
On the hitting side, Addison Darnell was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Nebraska City). They blew past Ashland-Greenwood 19-9 on Tuesday. The Pioneers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 16 matches by six runs or more this season.
Halle Nickels was a standout: she went 3-for-4 with a home run, three runs, and three RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Hanna Marth, who went 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Nebraska City kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 18 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.
Auburn has been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 14 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 18-7 record this season. As for Nebraska City, they pushed their record up to 23-4 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Auburn 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 Nebraska City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1.8. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Auburn might still be hurting after the 10-1 loss they got from Nebraska City in their previous meeting back in September of 2023. Can Auburn avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
