The Roxana Shells will head out on the road to square off against the Gillespie Miners at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Roxana is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.3 runs per game this season.
Last Thursday, it was a hard-fought game, but Roxana had to settle for a 5-4 defeat against Salem.
Roxana got a good showing from Trevor Gihring, who tossed 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Gihring has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Sean Maberry was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Gillespie can now show off 14 landslide victories after their most recent contest on Friday. Everything went their way against Hillsboro as Gillespie made off with a 6-0 victory. Winning may never get old, but Gillespie sure is getting used to it with their fifth in a row.
Luke Schuckenbrock made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out six over seven innings pitched. Schuckenbrock was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with three RBI and a stolen base.
In other batting news, Tristen Wargo was excellent, scoring a run while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Colin Griffith, who scored a run and stole two bases while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Roxana has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 19-12 record this season. As for Gillespie, their win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 21-7.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Roxana has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Gillespie struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Roxana came up short against Gillespie in their previous meeting back in May of 2021, falling 6-3. Thankfully for Roxana, Kamryn Link (who struck out eight batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off four 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
