Softball Game Preview: Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Red Raiders vs. Pine Grove Cardinals

Our Lady of Lourdes Regional is 1-9 against Pine Grove since April of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Red Raiders are taking a road trip to take on the Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Our Lady of Lourdes Regional is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Millville a 12-0 shutout on Monday. Considering the Red Raiders' hitters had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.

Meanwhile, Pine Grove waltzed into their contest on Wednesday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They came out on top against the Eagles by a score of 5-0. Give the Cardinals' pitching crew some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.

Not much got past Chelcy Clark, who gave up just a hit and racked up nine Ks to keep Blue Mountain off the board. Clark has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in nine consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Callee Leffler and Hannah Aungst did most of the damage at the plate: Leffler scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2, while Aungst scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2. Meadow Umbenhauer also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.

Pine Grove hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. The team has now struck out at least four batters in eight consecutive games.

Pine Grove's victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-1. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Our Lady of Lourdes Regional, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-6.

Our Lady of Lourdes Regional might still be hurting after the 19-0 loss they got from Pine Grove in their previous matchup back in March. Can the Red Raiders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.