Brandon is 2-8 against Northwest Rankin since March of 2022 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Brandon Bulldogs will be playing at home against the Northwest Rankin Cougars at 6:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
On Tuesday, Brandon made easy work of Oak Grove and carried off a 13-3 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for Brandon.
Dakota Davis made a splash while hitting and pitching. She struck out seven batters over six innings while giving up three earned runs off only two hits. Davis has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't pitched less than six innings in four consecutive pitching appearances. Davis was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with five RBI, a run, and a double.
In other batting news, Hannah Jo Sullivan was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing a base while getting on base in all five of her plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Shelbi Boddy, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Northwest Rankin put another one in the bag on Tuesday to keep their perfect season alive. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Meridian a 12-0 shutout. Give Northwest Rankin's pitching crew some credit: that's the team's fourth straight shutout.
The team relied heavily on Chloe Miller, who went 3-for-3 with a home run, five RBI, and two runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Reese Collier, who went 1-for-3 with a home run.
Brandon is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a massive bump to their 13-10 record this season. As for Northwest Rankin, they pushed their record up to 25-0 with that win, which was their 31st straight at home dating back to last season.
Thursday's game might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Brandon has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .455. However, it's not like Northwest Rankin struggles in that department as they've averaged .468. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Brandon might still be hurting after the 10-0 defeat they got from Northwest Rankin in their previous meeting on April 1st. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Northwest Rankin's Jolie Hays, who kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits over four innings pitched. Now that Brandon knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
