The West Marion Trojans will venture away from home to take on the Lawrence County Cougars at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. West Marion has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the match with three straight defeats, while Lawrence County will come in with three straight wins.
On Monday, West Marion came up short against Purvis and fell 6-2.
West Marion saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Izzy Pittman, who went 1-for-2 with one RBI.
Meanwhile, Lawrence County posted their closest victory since February 27th on Friday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 13-11 win over Loyd Star. Lawrence County's victory was all the more impressive since the Hornets were averaging only 3.35 runs allowed on the season.
Kylee McLeod made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she tossed four innings while giving up just one earned (and six unearned) runs off five hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Adaya Ball, who scored four runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-5. That's the most runs she has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Addie Raye Pennington, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-4.
Lawrence County kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least ten hits in three consecutive contests.
Lawrence County's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-8. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 14.3 runs over those games. As for West Marion, their loss dropped their record down to 17-3.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. West Marion hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like Lawrence County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
West Marion took their win against Lawrence County in their previous matchup back in February by a conclusive 13-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Trojans since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
