Softball Game Preview: St. Paul Swordsmen vs. Paraclete Spirits

The St. Paul Swordsmen will face off against the Paraclete Spirits at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.

On Wednesday, St. Paul made easy work of St. Anthony and carried off a 14-3 win. The victory continues a trend for the Swordsmen in their matchups with the Saints: they've now won five in a row.

Gianelle Napoles tossed a big game, striking out eight batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off six hits.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Aleena Gutierrez, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, two stolen bases, and two runs. That's the most runs she has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Kailee Mejia, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double.

St. Paul always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .645. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, Paraclete came tearing into Monday's matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 11.7 runs), and they left with even more momentum. Everything went their way against the Eagles as they made off with a 12-4 win. 12 seems to be a good number for the Spirits as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.

Paraclete's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 21-2-1. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for St. Paul, the win got them back to even at 12-12.

St. Paul might still be hurting after the 13-3 loss they got from Paraclete when the teams last played back in March. Will the Swordsmen have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.