The South Pontotoc Cougars will head out to face off against the Houston Hilltoppers at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
On Friday, South Pontotoc came up short against Choctaw County and fell 8-5. That's two games in a row now that the Cougars have lost by exactly three runs.
Cruze Lackey was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. On the mound, he pitched two innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-low in walks (zero). He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That home run was his first of the season.
Lackey wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Isaiah Stuto, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance also gave Stuto a new career-high in hits (two).
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Houston). Their pitchers stepped up to hand Columbus a 16-0 shutout on Thursday. Considering the Hilltoppers have won four games by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Adam Smith was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 3-for-3. He also got three hits, which is notable because Houston is undefeated when he posts at least three hits, but 1-2 otherwise. Cason Moss was another key player, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with two runs, one triple, and one RBI.
Houston always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .714. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
The victory made it two in a row for Houston and bumps their season record up to 4-2. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.0 runs on average over those games. As for South Pontotoc, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-4.
South Pontotoc suffered a grim 7-0 defeat to Houston in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Can South Pontotoc avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
