Softball Game Preview: Blythewood Bengals vs. Sumter Gamecocks

For the second straight game, Blythewood will face off against Sumter. The Bengals will host the Gamecocks at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Blythewood has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the match with three straight defeats, while Sumter will come in with four straight victories.

Tuesday just wasn't the day for Blythewood's offense. They came up short against Sumter on Tuesday, falling 8-0.

For Sumter's part, the result came thanks to Lillie Ivey's shutout, as she gave up just five hits and racked up six Ks. Ivey has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in eight consecutive appearances.

At the plate, McKayla Mouradjian was excellent, scoring three runs while going 2-for-2. Those three runs gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Bailey Ardis, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.

Sumter was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .385. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .385 or higher in three consecutive contests.

Sumter pushed their record up to 12-5-1 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for Blythewood, their loss dropped their record down to 14-5.