After a string of three wins, Melbourne's good fortune finally ran out on Thursday. They fell just short of the Salem Greyhounds by a score of 2-1. The result was an unpleasant reminder to Melbourne of the 9-8 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in March.
Kallie Thornton spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on one hit and racked up 12 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in nine consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Melbourne saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Maggie Pierson, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Even though they lost, Melbourne didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 12 strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Salem only tossed four.
On Salem's side, they also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Callie Hall gave up only one earned run on seven hits.
On the hitting side, Olivia Smith was excellent, going 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI.
Melbourne's loss ended a 23-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 20-5. As for Salem, they pushed their record up to 14-0 with that victory, which was their sixth straight on the road.
Melbourne will take on Walnut Ridge at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Walnut Ridge knows how to get runs on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy run totals in its past six contests -- so hopefully Melbourne likes a good challenge. As for Salem, they will head out on the road to face off against Cave City at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Salem is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 9.9 runs per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
