Softball Preview: Saint Mary's Panthers vs. Head-Royce Jayhawks
Saint Mary is 3-0 against Head-Royce since April of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. The Saint Mary's Panthers will be playing at home against the Head-Royce Jayhawks at 4:00 p.m. Saint Mary's is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 7.6 runs per game this season.
Saint Mary's is is headed into Monday's matchup looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Thursday. They fell victim to a rough 19-9 defeat at the hands of Salesian College Preparatory.
Aoife Shen and Taylor Zweben did some serious damage despite the final result: Shen scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while Zweben scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was London Crawford, who scored two runs while going 3-for-4.
Meanwhile, Head-Royce scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Friday. Everything went their way against Valley Christian as Head-Royce made off with a 24-3 victory. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
Elena Krauss and Juno Yu made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Krauss tossed three innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off three hits. Meanwhile, Yu tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts every time she's pitched this season. At bat, Krauss scored four runs while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances, while Yu got on base in all five of her plate appearances with four stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI.
In other batting news, Sienna Howard and Abigail Kim did most of the damage at the plate: Howard scored three runs and stole four bases while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances, while Kim scored five runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayla Davis, who scored four runs and stole two bases while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.
Saint Mary's loss dropped their record down to 4-8. As for Head-Royce, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a massive bump to their 4-6 record this season.
Saint Mary's skirted past Head-Royce 3-2 when the teams last played back in April of 2017. Does Saint Mary's have another victory up their sleeve, or will Head-Royce turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
