Lightridge has won nine straight games at home, while Riverside has won nine straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Tuesday. The Bolts will host the Ram at 6:30 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Lightridge 1.4, Riverside 3.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Lightridge is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Virginia's top teams: Independence, who was ranked 16th at the time (Lightridge was ranked second). The Bolts had just enough and edged out Independence 5-4 on Thursday. The Bolts haven't had any issues with Independence recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
The team relied heavily on Avery Sullivan, who went 3-for-4 with one double and one RBI. That's the most hits she has posted since back in March. Riley Thomas was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two runs.
Meanwhile, Riverside made easy work of Stone Bridge on Monday and carried off a 9-1 win. The Ram might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won nine games by six runs or more this season.
Brooklyn Oliviero made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Oliviero was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 1-for-1 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
In other batting news, Christina Franco was incredible, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Ashley Bui, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles, one run, and one RBI.
Riverside hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five batters in six consecutive matches.
Riverside has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.9 runs on average over those games. As for Lightridge, their win bumped their record up to 18-0.
Both Lightridge and Riverside just can't seem to miss. The Bolts have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.3 hits per game. However, it's not like Riverside struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 5.2 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
