Softball Preview: Northern Durham Knights vs. Jordan Falcons
Northern Durham is 9-1 against Jordan since March of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Northern Durham Knights will be playing in front of their home fans against the Jordan Falcons at 6:00 p.m. Northern Durham knows how to get runs on the board -- the team has finished with flashy run totals in its past four contests -- so hopefully Jordan likes a good challenge.
In what's become a running theme this season, Northern Durham gave their fans yet another huge victory on Tuesday. They blew past Chapel Hill 16-6. 16 seems to be a good number for Northern Durham as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Taylor Penne made a splash no matter where she played. She pitched 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (she also only allowed one walk). Penne was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 1-for-4.
In other batting news, Mason Browning and AnnaClaire Spell did most of the damage at the plate: Browning got on base in four of her five plate appearances with a home run, three runs, and three RBI, while Spell scored four runs while going 4-for-5. Browning has been hot recently, having posted at least one home run the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Samantha Drake, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Jordan had just enough and edged Riverside-Durham out 5-4 on Tuesday. Despite the victory, that was the fewest runs Jordan has scored all season.
Gabrielle Penny spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned (and one unearned) runs on eight hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Jazmin Ramos, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3.
Northern Durham has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a massive bump to their 5-6 record this season. As for Jordan, they now have a winning record of 5-4.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Northern Durham hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.7 home runs per game. However, it's not like Jordan struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.4. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Everything went Northern Durham's way against Jordan in their previous matchup back in May of 2023 as Northern Durham made off with a 21-15 win. Does Northern Durham have another victory up their sleeve, or will Jordan turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
