vs
| 04/19/24 - Away | 9-8 W |
| 04/21/23 - Home | 0-4 L |
| 04/27/22 - Home | 10-4 W |
| 04/06/18 - Home | 1-12 L |
| 04/07/17 - Home | 3-6 L |
| 04/08/16 - Away | 14-8 W |
Staunton and Southwestern are an even 3-3 against one another since April of 2016, but likely not for long. The Bulldogs will take on the Piasa Birds at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Staunton comes in on five and Southwestern on eight.
Staunton's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They skirted past Carlinville 1-0.
Not much got past Grace Burris, who gave up just two hits to keep Carlinville off the board.
At the plate, Ele Feldmann was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and one run. That's the most doubles she has posted since back in May of 2024.
Meanwhile, Southwestern hadn't done well against Gillespie recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. The Piasa Birds were the clear victors by a 14-7 margin over the Miners. Considering the Piasa Birds have won eight contests by more than six runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
The team relied heavily on Vivian Zurheide, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, six RBI, and two runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Kinley Lucas, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with four runs and one RBI.
Southwestern was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .424. They are a perfect 9-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Staunton's win was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 14-2. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.3 runs over those games. As for Southwestern, their record now sits at 10-3-1.
Staunton came out on top in a nail-biter against Southwestern when the teams last played back in April of 2024, sneaking past 9-8. Will the Bulldogs repeat their success, or do the Piasa Birds have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
