Baseball Preview: Roxana Shells vs. Mater Dei Knights
The Roxana Shells will head out on the road to challenge the Mater Dei Knights at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Roxana is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 6.3 runs per game this season.
Roxana proved they can win big on Tuesday (they won by ten) but on Thursday they proved they can win the close ones too. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Freeburg and snuck past 5-3.
Landon Sitze looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also only allowed one walk).
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Elias Thies, who scored a run while going 3-for-4.
Meanwhile, Mater Dei was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They fell just short of Highland by a score of 8-6.
Drake Wagner and Wil Harris did some serious damage despite the final result: Wagner scored two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances, while Harris scored a run while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Avery Strader, who scored two runs while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Roxana is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 8-6 record this season. As for Mater Dei, their loss dropped their record down to 2-7.
Roxana's speedy runners might be the difference in Friday's contest. Roxana has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.1 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Mater Dei, though, as they've been averaging only 0.9. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Roxana continue to outrun the ball?
Roxana was able to grind out a solid win over Mater Dei in their previous meeting back in May of 2023, winning 4-1. Does Roxana have another victory up their sleeve, or will Mater Dei turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
