Prairie will square off against Nucla at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Prairie has given up an average of 7.6 runs per game this season, but Saturday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Prairie heads in on the heels of a playoff contest on Saturday. They fell just short of Haxtun by a score of 15-14. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Wednesday (12), the Mustangs still had to take the loss.
Riar Holloway stepped up to lead a balanced group of hitters: he got on base in all six of his plate appearances with three runs and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Brennon Bringelson, who went 2-for-4 with four RBI, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, Nucla got the win against Dove Creek on Sunday by a conclusive 15-6. The Mustangs might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won nine matchups by six runs or more this season.
Brycen Rummel made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out 14 batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and four unearned) runs off five hits. He is becoming a predictor of Nucla's success: when he posts at least eight strikeouts the team is undefeated (and 8-9 when he doesn't). Rummel was also big at the plate, earning one RBI and two runs.
Rummel wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Jackson McCabe, who went 1-for-4 with two stolen bases and one run. Keegan Tackett was another, going 1-for-4 with two runs and one RBI.
Nucla is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games. That's provided a nice bump to their 11-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.4 runs over those games. As for Prairie, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-7.
Nucla's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Prairie has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 11.9 hits per game. It's a different story for Nucla, though, as they've been averaging 10.1 hits. Given Prairie's sizable advantage in that area, Nucla will need to find a way to close that gap. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
