Softball Preview: Saratoga Falcons vs. Palo Alto Vikings
Saratoga is 8-2 against Palo Alto since May of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Saratoga Falcons will be playing in front of their home fans against the Palo Alto Vikings at 4:00 p.m. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Palo Alto is hoping to do on Thursday what Cupertino couldn't on Tuesday: put an end to Saratoga's winning streak, which now stands at three games. Saratoga came out on top in a nail-biter against Cupertino and snuck past 4-3. That's two games straight that Saratoga has won by just one run.
Saratoga saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Sydney Riera, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Palo Alto had just enough and edged Santa Clara out 16-14 on Tuesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for Palo Alto.
Kira Tzeng spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned (and ten unearned) runs on nine hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than six innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Hana Foster was a standout: she scored four runs and stole a base while going 3-for-5. Another player making a difference was Kendall Butler, who scored three runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-4.
Saratoga is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten matches, which provided a nice bump to their 10-4 record this season. As for Palo Alto, their win bumped their record up to 7-8-1.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Saratoga has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.4 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Palo Alto struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.8. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Saratoga was able to grind out a solid victory over Palo Alto when the teams last played back in March, winning 9-4. Does Saratoga have another victory up their sleeve, or will Palo Alto turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
