The Notre Dame Regents will be playing in front of their home fans against the Cupertino Pioneers at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
Notre Dame's hitters might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against King's Academy on Tuesday. They wound up on the wrong side of a rough 12-0 walloping at the hands of the Knights. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Notre Dame in their matchups with King's Academy: they've now lost five in a row.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, Cupertino gave their fans yet another huge victory on Thursday. Everything went their way against Palo Alto as Cupertino made off with an 18-5 win. The victory was familiar territory for Cupertino who now have three in a row.
DJ Martinez made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and four unearned) runs off four hits. Martinez has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't pitched less than five innings every time she's pitched this season. Martinez was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a home run, three runs, and four RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Belle Walker, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. Lilly Roman was another key contributor, scoring four runs while going 2-for-4.
Notre Dame's loss dropped their record down to 7-5. As for Cupertino, their win bumped their record up to 10-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Notre Dame has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Cupertino struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.1. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Notre Dame came up short against Cupertino in their previous matchup back in March of 2016, falling 6-2. Thankfully for Notre Dame, Rebecca Solomon (who struck out six batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
