Preview: Land O' Lakes Gators vs. Pasco Pirates
Land O' Lakes is 9-1 against Pasco since March of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Land O' Lakes Gators will be playing in front of their home fans against the Pasco Pirates at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Land O' Lakes waltzed into their matchup on Tuesday with six straight wins... but they left with seven. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Hornets a 10-0 shutout. Give Land O' Lakes' pitching crew some credit: that's the team's fourth straight shutout.
Land O' Lakes got a great performance from Logan Baisley as he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 13 over 5.2 innings pitched. Baisley has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts every time he's pitched this season. Michael Halfpenny relieved him and did a solid job, pitching 1.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also only allowed one walk).
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Santi Busot, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Gavin Jusino was another key contributor, going 1-for-3 with three RBI.
Meanwhile, Pasco waltzed into their match on Tuesday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They were the clear victor by a 9-0 margin over the Bulldogs.
Boomer Newton made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and only one walk). Newton was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Pasco let Andrew Noyes and Yanuel "Yanni" Mercado loose on the outfield. Noyes got on base in all three of his plate appearances with a stolen base and an RBI, while Mercado scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-4.
Land O' Lakes pushed their record up to 8-3 with that win, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.3 runs per game. As for Pasco, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season.
Everything went Land O' Lakes' way against Pasco in their previous matchup back in April of 2023 as Land O' Lakes made off with a 13-2 victory. Does Land O' Lakes have another victory up their sleeve, or will Pasco turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
