The Wake Forest Cougars will face off against the Northern Durham Knights at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Wake Forest has six straight victories, Northern Durham has eight straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Northern Durham's hitters are going to have their work cut out for them on Monday: Wake Forest hadn't allowed a single run the last four times they've hit the field. Wake Forest never let Knightdale get on the board and left with a 15-0 win on Thursday. The Cougars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matches by eight runs or more this season.
Jil Livengood made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out nine batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up a single earned run any time she's pitched this season. She was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs while going 3-for-3.
In other batting news, Nova Pate was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2. She also put up three RBI, which were her first of the season. Abbey Lauer was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Northern Durham came up short against Falls Lake on Friday and fell 13-8.
Roxy Nelson and AnnaClaire Spell did some serious damage despite the final result: Nelson scored a run while going 2-for-3, while Spell went 1-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. The dominant performance also gave Nelson a new career-high in doubles (two). Another player making a difference was Lainey Stutts, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one RBI.
Wake Forest pushed their record up to 6-0 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 11.2 runs. As for Northern Durham, their loss dropped their record down to 0-7.
Northern Durham's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Wake Forest has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 8.8 hits per game. It's a different story for Northern Durham, though, as they've been averaging 10.6 hits. Given Wake Forest's sizable advantage in that area, Northern Durham will need to find a way to close that gap.
Wake Forest took their win against Northern Durham when the teams last played on Tuesday by a conclusive 16-0. Will Wake Forest repeat their success, or does Northern Durham have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
