Softball Game Preview: Mountain View Yellowjackets vs. Flippin Bobcats

The Mountain View Yellowjackets will face off against the Flippin Bobcats at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Mountain View has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with three straight losses, while Flippin will come in with three straight victories.

Last Tuesday, Mountain View didn't have quite enough to beat Cedar Ridge and fell 8-7.

While Flippin didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They were the clear victor by a 10-2 margin over Berryville on Tuesday. Flippin might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four games by eight runs or more this season.

Adrianne Benedict and Kelsey Hickey were a major factor no matter where they played. On the mound, Benedict tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Hickey struck out ten batters over six innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits. Those zero hits allowed gave Benedict a new career-low. At bat, Benedict scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3, while Hickey scored a run while going 2-for-4. The dominant performance also gave Hickey a new career-high in RBI (three).

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Rylee Hickey, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4. Cadence Pendergrass was another key player, going 1-for-5 with one triple and one run.

Flippin pushed their record up to 7-2 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.7 runs on average over those games. As for Mountain View, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-4.

Mountain View couldn't quite get it done against Flippin in their previous meeting back in April of 2019 as they fell 7-3. Can Mountain View avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.