Softball Game Preview: Westside Wolves vs. Heights Bulldogs

Westside is 1-9 against Heights since March of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The two teams will meet in a dog eat dog contest at 5:30 p.m. Westside has given up an average of 15.8 runs per game this season, but Tuesday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Westside is headed into Tuesday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their eighth straight game on Saturday. They lost 20-0 to Cesar E. Chavez. The shutout was out of character for the Wolves seeing as the last time the team failed to score was back in February.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Heights, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Houston Math Science & Tech an 18-0 shutout on Saturday. With that victory, the Bulldogs brought their scoring average up to 6.9 runs per game.

Sara Paniagua was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and only one walk). That's the most strikeouts she has posted since back in February. She was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 2-for-2.

In other batting news, Heights let Flora Moreno and Helen Maddux run wild. Moreno scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2, while Maddux scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances. Those three stolen bases gave Maddux a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Bella Parks, who scored three runs while going 3-for-3.

Heights kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 4.6 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matches they've averaged 13.

Heights pushed their record up to 7-7 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Westside, their loss dropped their record down to 0-8.