The Astronaut War Eagles will venture away from home to challenge the Spruce Creek Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Astronaut is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last six games.
Astronaut proved they can win big on Wednesday (they won by six) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They skirted past Space Coast 2-1. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the War Eagles have posted against the Vipers since May 5, 2022.
Riley Miller spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on eight hits and racked up six Ks.
Meanwhile, Spruce Creek had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They blew past the Bulldogs 14-5. The result was nothing new for the Hawks, who have now won five contests by seven runs or more so far this season.
Reese Cianciarulo was a major factor no matter where she played. She tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. She has been consistent : she hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in RBI (two).
In other pitching news, Aubrey Yeary tossed a big game, striking out ten batters over five innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Taylor Ferrandino, who went 3-for-5 with five RBI, two doubles, and one run. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in May of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Alexis Minaberry, who scored three runs while going 4-for-4.
Spruce Creek was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .448. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .321 or higher in four consecutive games.
Astronaut pushed their record up to 8-1 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.9 runs on average over those games. As for Spruce Creek, their record now sits at 8-3.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. Astronaut has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Spruce Creek struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 3 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Astronaut suffered a grim 10-1 defeat to Spruce Creek in their previous meeting back in March of 2017. Can Astronaut avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
