The Gretna East Griffins will challenge the Mercy Monarchs at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Mercy took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Gretna East, who comes in off a win.
Gretna East is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Blair, who was ranked eighth at the time (Gretna East was ranked 21st). The Griffins' pitcher stepped up to hand the Bears a 9-0 shutout on Thursday.
Gretna East got a great performance from Hadley McDowell as she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over five innings pitched. McDowell has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 11 consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Peyton Boone, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and four RBI. Those four RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Aubrey Horst, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
Gretna East was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .444. They are a perfect 8-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, Mercy was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They fell 7-3 to Auburn.
Audrey Batenhorst was cooking despite her team's loss, going 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Rae Carmichael, who went 2-for-4 with one run and one double.
Mercy's loss dropped their record down to 6-19. As for Gretna East, their victory bumped their record up to 16-11.
Mercy's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Saturday. Gretna East has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Mercy, though, as they've been averaging only 2 strikeouts. Will Gretna East keep running through batters, or will the Monarchs buck the trend?
Everything went Gretna East's way against Mercy when the teams last played back in September of 2024, as Gretna East made off with a 10-1 win. Will the Griffins repeat their success, or do the Monarchs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
