The Saint Mary's Panthers will square off against the St. Joseph Notre Dame Pilots at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Saint Mary's will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up two runs two weeks ago, then bounced right back against De Anza on Monday. The Panthers put the hurt on the Dons with a sharp 19-9 win. The victory continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Dons: they've now won seven in a row.
London Crawford
| 04/07/25 vs De Anza | 4 |
| 05/14/24 vs Hercules | 3 |
| 04/26/24 @ El Cerrito | 3 |
| 04/24/24 vs El Cerrito | 3 |
| 04/18/24 @ Salesian College Preparatory | 3 |
London Crawford was incredible, going 4-for-5 with one home run, four runs, and five RBI. Those four hits gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Aoife Shen, who scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.
Crawford wasn't the only one making solid contact: Saint Mary's kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 17 hits. The Panthers are 2-1 when they post 11 or more hits.
Meanwhile, St. Joseph Notre Dame waltzed into their contest on Wednesday with two straight wins... but they left with three. Everything went their way against the Eagles as they made off with a 12-2 win. The Pilots might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven games by ten runs or more this season.
Cassandra Sanchez made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out ten batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits (and only one walk). She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-2.
In other batting news, Ella Schwartz and Alana Sadie did most of the damage at the plate: Schwartz scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-3, while Sadie went 1-for-2 with one home run and two RBI. Reagan Bowman was another key player, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
St. Joseph Notre Dame's victory bumped their record up to 8-4. As for Saint Mary's, they picked up their first home win, bumping their record up to 2-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Saint Mary's hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like St. Joseph Notre Dame struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Saint Mary's couldn't quite finish off St. Joseph Notre Dame when the teams last played back in March of 2024 and fell 7-5. Will the Panthers have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
