Softball Game Preview: Southwood Knights vs. Oak Hill Golden Eagles

Southwood is 1-9 against Oak Hill since May of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Knights will host the Golden Eagles at 10:00 a.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Saturday.

Oak Hill will be up against a hot Southwood squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. The Knights blew past Southern Wells 11-2 on Friday. That's two games straight that the Knights have won by exactly nine runs.

Rowan Goodpasture and Natalie Sutphin made a splash while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Goodpasture didn't allow a single earned run over four innings pitched. Meanwhile, Sutphin pitched three innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 17 consecutive appearances. At the plate, Goodpasture got on base in three of her four plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI, while Sutphin went 2-for-4 with three RBI and one double.

In other batting news, Southwood let Izzy Ashba and Rylee Thomas run wild. Ashba went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI, while Thomas got on base in three of her five plate appearances with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI. That's the most stolen bases Thomas has posted since back in April of 2024. Another player making a difference was Gracie Lambert, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.

Meanwhile, Oak Hill never let their opponents score on Friday. They put the hurt on Caston with a sharp 8-0 victory. The Golden Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matches by six runs or more this season.

Oak Hill is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games. That's provided a nice bump to their 14-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Southwood, their victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-7.

Southwood suffered a grim 16-6 defeat to Oak Hill in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Will the Knights have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more softball content.