Softball Preview: Basalt Longhorns vs. Rifle Bears
The Basalt Longhorns's road trip will continue as they head out to face the Rifle Bears at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Basalt will be strutting in after a victory while Rifle will be coming in after a loss.
Basalt is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They were the clear victor by a 28-5 margin over Aspen on Thursday. The Longhorns might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six contests by ten runs or more this season.
Nyala Honey was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she tossed three innings while giving up just one earned (and four unearned) runs off five hits. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in hits. She was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-3 with four runs, four RBI, and two doubles. What's more, she also racked up no strikeouts, the fewestshe's had since back in August.
In other batting news, Chloe Davies was a standout: she scored four runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-4. What's more, she also racked up two hits, the mostshe's had since back in September. Another player making a difference was Ashley Cullen, who scored three runs while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Basalt always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .725. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Rifle was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They lost 12-2 to Delta.
Rifle saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Rylan Petree, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3. Petree is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as she's now stolen at least one in the last three games she's played dating back to last season.
Basalt's win ended a nine-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 6-13. As for Rifle, their loss dropped their record down to 8-12.
Rifle's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Basalt has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of 0. It's a different story for Rifle, though, as they've only averaged 0. Will they be able to contain Basalt's hitters?
Basalt suffered a grim 21-1 defeat to Rifle in their previous meeting back in August of 2023. Can Basalt 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
