Softball Game Preview: Mission Oak Hawks vs. Lemoore Tigers

Mission Oak has gone a perfect 7-0 against Lemoore recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Hawks will venture away from home to take on the Tigers at 4:30 p.m. Mission Oak will be looking to extend their current five-game winning streak.

Mission Oak's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Tulare Western with a sharp 11-0 win. The result was nothing new for the Hawks, who have now won seven contests by six runs or more so far this season.

Taylor Shepherd

Runs Batted In

04/30/25 @ Tulare Western	4
04/23/25 @ Hanford	1
04/09/25 vs Lemoore	3
03/25/25 @ Sunnyside	1
03/20/25 @ Sierra Pacific	1
+ 18 more games

Taylor Shepherd was a standout: she went 2-for-3 with four RBI, one triple, and one run. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in March of 2024. Another player making a difference was Journee Hernandez, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI, two runs, and one double.

Mission Oak always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .516. They are a perfect 5-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.

Meanwhile, Lemoore hadn't done well against Tulare Union recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. The Tigers came out on top against the Tribe by a score of 7-2. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Tigers.

Mission Oak pushed their record up to 12-9-1 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.0 runs over those games. As for Lemoore, their record now sits at 5-16-1.

Mission Oak took their victory against Lemoore in their previous meeting back in April by a conclusive 16-2 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Hawks since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.