Softball Preview: Elizabeth Cardinals vs. Sierra Stallions
Elizabeth is 10-0 against Sierra since October of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Elizabeth Cardinals will square off against the Sierra Stallions at 4:00 p.m. Elizabeth is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.6 runs per game this season.
Elizabeth will head into Thursday's game hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big on Tuesday (they won by ten) but on Thursday they proved they can win the close ones too. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-3 win over Falcon. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Cardinals have posted since August 20th.
Faith Carlson made a splash no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out 12 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in strikeouts. She was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a triple and a run. She is on a roll when it comes to triples, as she's now hit at least one in the last three games she's played dating back to last season.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Allie Dey, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Aurelia Espinoza, who went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and an RBI.
Elizabeth didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 12 strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Sierra). They blew past Mitchell 29-10 on Thursday. The high-scoring effort was just what the Stallions needed considering they were shutout in their previous match.
Elizabeth's record now sits at 7-3. As for Sierra, the win snapped their losing streak at three games and leaves them with a 5-6 record.
Elizabeth took their victory against Sierra in their previous meeting back in September of 2023 by a conclusive 16-0. Does Elizabeth have another victory up their sleeve, or will Sierra turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
