The Ursuline Fighting Irish will venture away from home to take on the Howland Tigers at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. The last four games Ursuline has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
Ursuline will bounce into Monday's matchup after beating West Branch, who they had gone 1-7-1 against in their nine prior meetings. The Fighting Irish narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past the Warriors 2-1.
Anthony Triveri spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on three hits and racked up 12 Ks. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Ursuline saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Thomas Kosovan, who went 1-for-2 with one double.
Meanwhile, Howland came tearing into Saturday's contest with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7 runs), and they left with even more momentum. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Clippers a 13-0 shutout. Considering the Tigers have won ten games by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Sam Gryzelewski looked comfortable as he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits over four innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three).
On the hitting side, Luca Fronzaglio was incredible, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with three stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. Those three stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Deacon Mock also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Howland always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .655. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Columbiana only posted an OBP of .071.
Ursuline is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 13 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 14-10 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.5 runs over those games. As for Howland, their win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-9.
Ursuline couldn't quite get it done against Howland in their previous matchup back in May of 2024 as they fell 4-1. Can the Fighting Irish avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
