Softball Game Preview: Iowa-Grant Panthers vs. Darlington Redbirds

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Previous Games

04/08/25 - Home	16-2 W
04/25/24 - Home	5-4 W
04/09/24 - Away	12-2 W
05/11/23 - Away	12-0 W
05/02/23 - Home	13-3 W
+ 5 more games

Iowa-Grant is a perfect 10-0 against Darlington since April of 2018 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Panthers will challenge the Redbirds at 5:00 p.m. Iowa-Grant will be strutting in after a victory while Darlington will be coming in after a defeat.

It was a proper cat-fight when Iowa-Grant challenged Southwestern on Monday. The Panthers walked away with a 12-9 win over the Wildcats. The Panthers haven't had any issues with the Wildcats recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive victory against them.

The team relied heavily on Quinn Hoeper, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one triple. The team also got some help courtesy of Presley Lehman, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double.

Meanwhile, Darlington was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their fourth straight loss. They were two runs away from ending the streak, but they lost a 15-13 heartbreaker at the hands of Belleville. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Redbirds have suffered since April 23, 2024.

Iowa-Grant's win bumped their record up to 9-5. As for Darlington, their loss dropped their record down to 1-9.

Everything went Iowa-Grant's way against Darlington in their previous matchup on April 8th, as Iowa-Grant made off with a 16-2 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.