(Missouri Valley, IA) — First place is on the line in the Western Iowa Conference as Riverside hosts Missouri Valley in a softball tilt tonight, coverage on KSOM and Western Iowa Today TV. The game time has been moved up 5:30 pm to accommodate the weather.
The Bulldogs are in first place at 12-1, 14-2 overall and they beat Missouri Valley the first time around in Oakland 4-2. Freshman Peyton Schafer has a solid year in the circle with a 2.63 ERA, 89 strikeouts and opponents are only hitting .203 against her. However, the offense seems to be Riverside’s strength — the Bulldogs are hitting .398 as a team which ranks third in Class 1A behind Southeast Warren and Fremont Mills. They have 39 doubles, 8 triples and 13 HR as a team and their slugging percentage ranks first in Class 1A at .609. Head Coach Lacie Patterson says there is no one player who is hot right now, they are getting hits up and down the line up
One other thing that characterizes the offense is that Riverside hits the ball — they have only struck out 65 times as a team which is only 4 times a game and they do not walk much either, only 58 times
Missouri Valley is 22-4 and 11-2 in the conference and led by Senior Pitcher Audrie Kohl who has a 1.31 ERA and has 142 strikeouts in 123 innings pitched and opponents are only hitting .159 against her. She also leads the offense hitting .465 with 7 HR and 29 RBI. Freshman Kaitlyn Evans is hitting .432 with 5 HR and 32 RBI and Junior Rylee Evans is at .281 with 4 HR and 17 RBI so Mo Valley has some pop in their line up as well. If Riverside wins tonight, they would clinch at least a share of the regular season conference title and Patterson says that is nice but she is thinking to next month
Riverside is ranked #8 in Class 1A; Missouri Valley is ranked #12 in 3A, game time is schedule for 5:30 pm tonight, coverage on KSOM and Western Iowa Today TV.
Complete Interview with Head Coach Lacie Patterson
