Softball Game Preview: Concordia Fighting Orioles vs. Green Ridge Tigers

The Concordia Fighting Orioles will head out on the road to face off against the Green Ridge Tigers at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Concordia sitting on nine straight wins and Green Ridge on three.

Concordia is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Missouri's top teams: Crest Ridge, who was ranked 23rd at the time (Concordia was ranked sixth). The Fighting Orioles came out on top against the Cougars by a score of 3-0 on Wednesday. Give the Fighting Orioles' pitching crew some credit: that's the team's sixth straight shutout.

The result came thanks to Olivia Hemme's shutout, as she gave up just two hits and racked up 16 Ks. She has been consistent: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in seven consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Concordia saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Aubrey Roepe, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and one run. That's the most stolen bases Roepe has posted since back in April.

The home team had won the previous two meetings between Green Ridge and Northwest, and Green Ridge kept the tradition alive. The Tigers put the hurt on the Mustangs with a sharp 12-4 victory on Wednesday. Considering the Tigers have won ten contests by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Concordia's win was their ninth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 24-4. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.9 runs on average over those games. As for Green Ridge, their win bumped their record up to 13-10.

Everything went Concordia's way against Green Ridge in their previous matchup back in March of 2024, as Concordia made off with a 12-0 victory. Do the Fighting Orioles have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Tigers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.