Petal is 1-9 against Brandon since March of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. Petal will head out on the road to challenge Brandon at 7:00 p.m. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Petal barely beat St. Stanislaus the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. Petal put the hurt on St. Stanislaus with a sharp 16-4 victory on Saturday. The Panthers' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Nathan Carter looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. What's more, he gave up only one walk, the fewest he's had since back in February.
At the plate, Easton Giger was a standout: he went 3-for-4 with five RBI, three runs, and one triple. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April of 2024. Landry Stringfellow also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Petal was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .433. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Brandon had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13.3 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Saturday. They were the clear victors by a 12-1 margin over the Braves. The result was nothing new for the Bulldogs, who have now won ten contests by six runs or more so far this season.
The team relied heavily on Jay McQueen, who went 2-for-3 with four stolen bases, two runs, and one triple. He has become a key player for Brandon: the team is 7-3 when he posts at least two runs, but 3-5 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Graydon Walker, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Petal's win was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 11-4. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Brandon, their record is now 10-8.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Petal has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Brandon struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
