The Mathews Mustangs will head out to square off against the Harding Raiders at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Mathews will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak.
Mathews proved they can win big on Friday (they won by nine) and on Monday they proved they can win the close ones too. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Chalker 9-8. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Mustangs have posted against the Wildcats since May 13, 2016.
Harding not only won on Monday, but they posted their biggest win since April 24th (when they won 19-7). Everything went their way against Liberty as they made off with a 12-2 victory. The win continues a trend for the Raiders in their matchups with the Leopards: they've now won five in a row.
Jaron Edmonds was a major factor no matter where he played. He pitched five innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five). He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Harding's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 2-17 when he doesn't).
In other batting news, Doug Pleacher was excellent, going 1-for-2 with one home run and two runs. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April. Elias Johnson was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two RBI.
Mathews' record now sits at 14-6. As for Harding, their record is now 6-17.
Mathews came out on top in a nail-biter against Harding in their previous meeting back in April, sneaking past 3-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Mustangs since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
