Preview: Lincoln Fighting Zebras vs. Rio Linda Knights
Lincoln is 9-1 against Rio Linda since April of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. The Lincoln Fighting Zebras have the luxury of staying home for another game and will welcome the Rio Linda Knights at 3:30 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Lincoln: 3.1, Rio Linda: 4) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Last Tuesday, Lincoln came up short against Whitney and fell 5-2. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Lincoln in their matchups with Whitney: they've now lost nine in a row.
Jake Redding was cooking despite his team's loss, going 1-for-3 with a home run.
Even though they lost, Lincoln didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with ten strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Rio Linda waltzed into their match on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They skirted past the Rams 4-3. That's two games straight that Rio Linda has won by just one run.
Mathias Culp made a big impact no matter where he played. He tossed seven innings while giving up three earned runs off four hits (he also didn't allow any walks). Culp was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
Culp wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Jason Figueroa, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Lincoln's defeat dropped their record down to 4-2-1. As for Rio Linda, their win bumped their record up to 5-6.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lincoln has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Rio Linda struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.3 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Lincoln's way against Rio Linda in their previous meeting back in April of 2023 as Lincoln made off with a 10-0 victory. Does Lincoln have another victory up their sleeve, or will Rio Linda turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
