Southwestern and Staunton are an even 3-3 against one another since April of 2016, but likely not for long. The Piasa Birds will host the Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Southwestern comes in on eight and Staunton on five.
Southwestern will bounce into Friday's matchup after beating Gillespie, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. The Piasa Birds blew past the Miners 14-7 on Tuesday. Considering the Piasa Birds have won eight games by more than six runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Vivian Zurheide
| 04/29/25 vs Gillespie | 6 |
| 04/11/25 @ Hillsboro | 5 |
| 04/23/25 @ New Berlin | 4 |
| 04/15/25 vs North Mac | 4 |
| 04/08/25 vs North Greene | 3 |
Vivian Zurheide was incredible, going 2-for-4 with one home run, six RBI, and two runs. Those six RBI gave her a new career-high. Kinley Lucas was another key player, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with four runs and one RBI.
They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Southwestern kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in ten consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, while Staunton put up some runs on Tuesday, the same can't be said for Carlinville. The Bulldogs narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past the Cavaliers 1-0.
Not much got past Grace Burris, who gave up just two hits to keep Carlinville off the board.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Ele Feldmann, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles and one run.
Staunton pushed their record up to 14-2 with the win, which was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.1 runs on average over those games. As for Southwestern, their win bumped their record up to 10-3-1.
Staunton's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Southwestern has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .443. It's a different story for Staunton, though, as they've only averaged .325. Will they be able to contain Southwestern's hitters? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.
