On Thursday, Pine Island faced Stewartville in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Pine Island Panthers fell just short of the Stewartville Tigers by a score of 2-1. Pine Island's loss continues an unfortunate trend for the squad, making it three in a row.
Nick Bauer was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. On the mound, he struck out seven batters over four innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits. Bauer has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances. Bauer was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Even though they lost, Pine Island didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 14 strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Pine Island's defeat dropped their record down to 6-3. As for Stewartville, the win for them keeps them at an undefeated 7-0.
Pine Island will be playing in front of their home fans against St. Charles at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. As for Stewartville, they will head out on the road to take on Lourdes at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Stewartville's pitching crew has only allowed 3.7 runs per game this season, so Lourdes' hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
