Softball Preview: Burke County Bears vs. Lincoln County Red Devils
Burke County is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Lincoln County is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Burke County Bears will welcome the Lincoln County Red Devils at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Burke County knows how to get runs on the board -- the team has finished with ten run or more in their past five matchups -- so hopefully Lincoln County likes a good challenge.
Burke County is headed into the match having just posted their closest win since August 10, 2023 on Thursday. They skirted past Thomson 12-10.
Burke County let Alexis Mullis and Malia Washington loose on the outfield. Mullis scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-4, while Washington scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Mullis also hit a double, marking her first of the season. Another player making a difference was Paige Sullivan, who went 2-for-5 with three RBI and a double.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Burke County didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with seven strikeouts. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 4 strikeouts per game earlier this season, but in their last five contests they've averaged 10.2.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Lincoln County). They blew past Putnam County 16-7 last Thursday. Considering the Red Devils have won three games by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Lincoln County got a massive performance out of Kaelyn Stacy, who scored four runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-4. With that strong performance, Stacy is now averaging an impressive 1.1 stolen bases per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordin Hilton, who went 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs, and three RBI.
The victory got Burke County back to even at 5-5. As for Lincoln County, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Tuesday as neither team is afraid to steal. Burke County has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 6.2 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Lincoln County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.8. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Burke County might still be hurting after the 12-3 loss they got from Lincoln County in their previous meeting back in September of 2023. Can Burke County avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
