Salem is 0-6 against Charleston since April of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Salem Wildcats will head out on the road to face off against the Charleston Trojans at 4:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Salem will bounce into Thursday's game after beating Mattoon, who they hadn't topped in six consecutive meetings. Salem's pitcher stepped up to hand Mattoon a 7-0 shutout on Wednesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for Salem.
Breanna Thurman made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over seven innings pitched. Thurman has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive pitching appearances. Thurman was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Olivia Paulson, who went 3-for-4 with a home run, three runs, and three RBI. Another player making a difference was Marah Johnson, who went 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI.
Meanwhile, Charleston entered their tilt with Richland County with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They put the hurt on the Tigers with a sharp 17-11 victory on Wednesday.
Rylee Shrader was incredible, going 4-for-5 with five RBI, three doubles, and two runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Madisyn Watson, who scored a run while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.
Salem's record is now 23-7. As for Charleston, their win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 19-7.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Salem hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.3 home runs per game. However, it's not like Charleston struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Salem came up short against Charleston in their previous matchup back in April of 2017, falling 7-3. Can Salem avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
