The Howe Lions will venture away from home to square off against the Red Oak Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Howe 3.2, Red Oak 2.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Howe is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Chouteau-Mazie an 8-0 shutout. Considering the Lions have won 11 matchups by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Red Oak). Everything went their way against Gans on Thursday as they made off with a 16-0 victory. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded the Eagles with their most commanding win of the season.
Maggie Wilson was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Wilson was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with two RBI, one run, and one double. That run marked the first that she has scored this season.
In other batting news, Red Oak got a massive performance out of Allie Tovar (MSSU), who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. Those two runs gave Tovar (MSSU) a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jayla King, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI.
Red Oak always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .750. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
The win (which was Howe's third in a row) raised their record to 18-12. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Red Oak, their record now sits at 9-7.
Howe couldn't quite finish off Red Oak when the teams last played back in August and fell 5-3. Can the Lions avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
