Softball Game Preview: Blooming Grove Lions vs. Rice Bulldogs

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Previous Games

04/05/24 - Home	8-2 W
03/19/24 - Away	11-1 W
04/06/23 - Away	14-0 W
03/21/23 - Home	17-2 W
04/01/22 - Home	14-0 W
+ 5 more games

Blooming Grove has gone a perfect 10-0 against Rice recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. Blooming Grove will face off against Rice at 6:00 p.m. Blooming Grove's pitching crew has only allowed 2.4 runs per game this season, so Rice's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Blooming Grove took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They were the clear victors by a 16-5 margin over Palmer. Considering the Lions have won 15 matches by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Meanwhile, after a string of four wins, Rice's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They fell just short of Maypearl by a score of 4-3.

Wenni Wharton was huge no matter where she played even without the win. She pitched 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Wharton was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base.

Wharton wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Cadence Van Cleave, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4. Those two stolen bases gave Van Cleave a new career-high.

Blooming Grove pushed their record up to 17-2 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.2 runs over those games. As for Rice, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-2-1.

Blooming Grove took their victory against Rice in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 8-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for Blooming Grove since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.