Softball Game Preview: East Leopards vs. West Panthers

East hasn't had much luck against West recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Leopards will head out on the road to take on the Panthers at 3:30 p.m. East knows how to get runs on the board -- the squad has finished with ten runs or more in their past three contests -- so hopefully West likes a good challenge.

If East beats West with 18 runs on Tuesday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. The Leopards put the hurt on Highland with a sharp 18-1 win on Monday. The result was nothing new for the Leopards, who have now won 13 games by six runs or more so far this season.

Meanwhile, West fell victim to Brighton and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They came up short against the Bengals, falling 18-0. Having soared to a lofty 17 runs in the game before, the Panthers' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.

East's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-10. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for West, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four contests. That's still a better percentage than their 4-15 record this season.

East took their victory against West when the teams last played back in April by a conclusive 20-10 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Leopards since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.