Softball Game Preview: San Jacinto Tigers vs. West Valley Mustangs

San Jacinto has gone 8-2 against West Valley recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Tigers will look to defend their home field against the Mustangs at 3:15 p.m. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.

San Jacinto came into their game on Wednesday off a hard-fought close win, but unfortunately suffered a serious change of fortune. They lost 19-4 to Temescal Canyon. The Tigers haven't had much luck with the Titans recently, as the team has come up short the last eight times they've met.

San Jacinto saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Genesis Ruiz, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one run.

Meanwhile, West Valley was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They came up short against Tahquitz, falling 20-5.

Jennah Murphy and Deonys Ioane stepped up to the plate in a big way. Murphy went 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI, while Ioane went 1-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.

San Jacinto's loss dropped their record down to 8-10. As for West Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-9.

West Valley's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: San Jacinto has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.2 hits per game. It's a different story for West Valley, though, as they've been averaging 10.8 hits. Given San Jacinto's sizable advantage in that area, the Mustangs will need to find a way to close that gap.

San Jacinto took their win against West Valley in their previous meeting two weeks ago by a conclusive 25-5 score. Do the Tigers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Mustangs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.