The Richland Rams will head out on the road to square off against the Huntingdon Bearcats at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Richland took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They never let Somerset get on the board and left with a 2-0 win. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
The result came thanks to Carissa Weld's shutout, as she gave up just four hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Richland saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jenna Jordan, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, Huntingdon hadn't done well against Philipsburg-Osceola recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Thursday. The Bearcats sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 1-0 victory over the Mountaineers. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Bearcats.
The result came thanks to Alivia Nicklow's shutout, as she gave up just five hits and racked up 12 Ks.
Huntingdon's win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 12-6. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.1 runs on average over those games. As for Richland, the win got them back to even at 8-8.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Richland hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Huntingdon struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.6 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Richland couldn't quite finish off Huntingdon in their previous meeting back in May of 2024 and fell 5-3. Can the Rams avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
