East Bay hasn't had much luck against Durant recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The East Bay Indians will be playing in front of their home fans against the Durant Cougars at 7:00 p.m. East Bay is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 11.2 runs per game this season.
East Bay will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up two runs last Tuesday, then bounced right back against Leto on Thursday. Everything went East Bay's way against Leto as East Bay made off with a 27-7 victory. The Indians have beaten the Falcons the last four times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Falcons has come to flipping the script.
Heidy Encarnacion
| 02/27/25 @ Leto | 4 |
| 03/01/24 vs King | 3 |
| 03/07/24 @ Armwood | 2 |
| 03/06/24 @ Brandon | 2 |
| 02/23/24 vs South Lake | 2 |
Heidy Encarnacion and Jensen Nelson did most of the damage at the plate: Encarnacion got on base in all five of her plate appearances with four runs, three RBI, and one triple, while Nelson got on base in four of her five plate appearances with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. The dominant performance gave Encarnacion a new career-high in runs. Another player making a difference was Jessalyn Lugo, who went 3-for-5 with four RBI, two runs, and one double.
East Bay was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .519. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Durant, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. They skirted past Sumner 2-1.
Betty Oderio spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered a run (which was unearned) on two hits and racked up seven Ks.
At the plate, Durant saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Lennox Ullrich, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3. That stolen base was Ullrich's first of the season.
The win got Durant back to even at 2-2. As for East Bay, the victory also got them back to even at 2-2.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. East Bay hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Durant struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
East Bay came up short against Durant in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, falling 7-4. Will East Bay have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
