Softball Game Preview: Evansville Mater Dei Wildcats vs. Tecumseh Braves

Evansville Mater Dei is 2-8 against Tecumseh since May of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Wildcats will challenge the Braves at 6:30 p.m. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Evansville Mater Dei sitting on six straight wins and Tecumseh on 17.

The scorekeeper got an easy start on Thursday as neither Evansville Mater Dei nor North Daviess made it on the board until the fifth inning. The Wildcats' pitcher stepped up to hand the Cougars a 3-0 shutout.

Chelsea Merkley made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out six over seven innings pitched. Merkley was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with three RBI and one double. That's the most hits she has posted over her last ten contests.

Grace Folz

Hits

05/22/25 @ North Daviess	3
05/17/25 vs Edgewood	2
05/15/25 vs Evansville Harrison	2
05/14/25 vs Boonville	2
05/13/25 @ Evansville Bosse	2
+ 11 more games

In other batting news, Grace Folz was incredible, going a perfect 3-for-3 with three stolen bases and two runs. That's the most hits she has posted since back in April.

Meanwhile, Tecumseh made easy work of South Spencer on Friday and carried off a 13-5 victory. The Braves might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 12 games by six runs or more this season.

Tecumseh's win was their tenth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 24-2. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for Evansville Mater Dei, their win bumped their record up to 14-8.

Evansville Mater Dei came up short against Tecumseh in their previous matchup back in April, falling 6-2. Can the Wildcats avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.