Softball Preview: Ursuline Academy Bears vs. Bellingham Blackhawks
The Ursuline Academy Bears will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Bellingham Blackhawks at 3:45 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Ursuline Academy has four straight victories, Bellingham has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
In what's become a running theme this season, Ursuline Academy gave their fans yet another huge win on Thursday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Maimonides a 13-0 shutout.
Colleen Ganley and Priya Raskin made a big impact while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Ganley tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Raskin struck out nine batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). At the plate, Ganley went 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs, and two RBI, while Raskin went 2-for-2 with three RBI and two doubles.
In other batting news, Isabella Borgonzi was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-2.
Meanwhile, Bellingham came up short against Norton on Wednesday and fell 8-3.
Bellingham saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jacobi Houston, who went 1-for-2 with a home run and three RBI. Houston has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances.
Ursuline Academy is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. As for Bellingham, their loss dropped their record down to 5-13.
Bellingham's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Ursuline Academy has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 11.3 hits per game. It's a different story for Bellingham, though, as they've been averaging 8.9. Given Ursuline Academy's sizable advantage in that area, Bellingham will need to find a way to close that gap.
Ursuline Academy skirted past Bellingham 2-1 when the teams last played on May 6th. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Houston, who struck out 17 batters over 12 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off eight hits (and not a single walk). Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Ursuline Academy still be able to contain Houston? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
