Baseball Recap: Riverside Has No Trouble Against Nyssa

Riverside barely beat Nyssa the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Pirates blew past the Bulldogs 15-5 on Friday. With that win, the Pirates brought their scoring average up to 6.7 runs per game.

Cougar Philippi made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out nine batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and four unearned) runs off three hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 4-for-5 with two stolen bases, five RBI, and three runs. He is becoming a predictor of Riverside's success: when he posts at least two stolen bases the team is 2-1 (and 3-8 when he doesn't).

In other batting news, Payton Thomas was excellent, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with four runs and one RBI. Those four runs gave him a new career-high. Jesse Orcutt also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

Riverside has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a massive bump to their 5-9 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.5 runs over those games. As for Nyssa, they are on a nine-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 2-14.

Coming up, Riverside will challenge Catlin Gabel at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. As for Nyssa, they will square off against Vale at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.