The MacDonald Condor will head out on the road to face off against the Santa Clara Bruins at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. MacDonald has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the game with eight straight losses, while Santa Clara will come in with 11 straight victories.
MacDonald fell victim to Saratoga and their airtight pitching crew on Tuesday. They came up short against the Falcons, falling 15-0.
Harbor typically has all the answers at home, but on Wednesday Santa Clara proved too difficult a challenge. They put the hurt on the Pirates with a sharp 7-1 win. The result was nothing new for the Bruins, who have now won 13 contests by six runs or more so far this season.
Drew Diffenderfer made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. What's more, he posted two strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one run, one double, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Andrew Traffas was incredible, going 3-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. That triple was his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Charles Conley, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.
Santa Clara hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. The team has now struck out at least four batters in five consecutive matches.
Santa Clara's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 20-3. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for MacDonald, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-18.
MacDonald suffered a grim 24-1 defeat to Santa Clara when the teams last played back in April. Can the Condor avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
