The Tioga Bulldogs are taking a road trip to take on the Tom Bean Tomcats at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Tioga is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.5 runs per game this season.
Tuesday just wasn't the day for Tioga's offense. They came up short against Collinsville on Tuesday, falling 9-0. The Bulldogs have struggled against the Pirates recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive lost meeting.
Tioga saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gage Anderson, who went 1-for-3 with one double.
Meanwhile, Tom Bean had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They never let the Tigers get on the board and left with a 10-0 win. Surprisingly, this marked the fifth straight game that the away team has come away the victor.
Keaton Reed made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out six over six innings pitched. Reed was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Braylin Barrett and Cash Linder did most of the damage at the plate: Barrett scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4, while Linder scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. Linder has been hot recently, having also posted three or more RBI the last three times he's played. Reid Sharp was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base and two RBI.
Tom Bean hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least three strikeouts batters in three consecutive games.
Tom Bean pushed their record up to 10-6 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.7 runs over those games. As for Tioga, their loss dropped their record down to 7-9-1.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Tioga has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.3 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Tom Bean struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.2 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Tioga might still be hurting after the 17-5 defeat they got from Tom Bean when the teams last played back in March. Can the Bulldogs avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
