Softball Game Preview: Crest Ridge Cougars vs. Concordia Fighting Orioles

Crest Ridge is 1-9 against Concordia since April of 2022 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Cougars will take on the Fighting Orioles at 5:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Crest Ridge's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They were the clear victors by a 16-0 margin over Kingsville. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Cougars.

Meanwhile, Concordia waltzed into their game on Tuesday with seven straight wins... but they left with eight. They blew past the Chiefs 17-0. Give the Fighting Orioles' pitching crew some credit: that's the team's fifth straight shutout.

Olivia Hemme was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 12 over four innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in six consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Emily Wilkens, who got on base in all five of her plate appearances with five RBI, two runs, and one triple. Those five RBI gave her a new career-high. Abigail Jones was another key player, going 2-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and one double.

Concordia pushed their record up to 23-4 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.9 runs over those games. As for Crest Ridge, their record is now 15-5.

Crest Ridge couldn't quite finish off Concordia in their previous meeting two weeks ago and fell 2-0. Can the Cougars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.