Big Sky is 0-10 against Helena since May of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Big Sky Eagles will head out on the road to square off against the Helena Bengals at 11:00 a.m. Big Sky will be coming into the contest with an undefeated record on the line.
Big Sky is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Montana's top teams: Capital, who was ranked fourth in their home state at the time (Big Sky was ranked second). Big Sky came out on top against Capital by a score of 4-1 on Tuesday.
Liberty Rogers spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on three hits. Those seven innings set a new season-high mark for her.
On the hitting side, Big Sky let Kyler Latrielle and Grace Hood loose on the outfield. Latrielle went 1-for-3 with a home run and two runs, while Hood went 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBI. Hood has been hot recently, having posted at least one home run the last three times she's played.
Meanwhile, Helena can finally bid farewell to their three-game losing streak thanks to their game on Monday. They never let Hellgate onto the board and left with a 20-0 win. With that victory, Helena brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.
The team relied heavily on Kylee Gardipee, who went 3-for-3 with three runs, four RBI, and two doubles. The team also got some help courtesy of Ashley Koenig, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances.
Big Sky pushed their record up to 7-0-1 with that win, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. As for Helena, their victory ended a five-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 3-5.
Big Sky's speedy runners might be the difference in Saturday's match. Big Sky has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.1 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Helena, though, as they've been averaging only 0.9. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Big Sky continue to outrun the ball?
Big Sky suffered a grim 11-0 defeat to Helena in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Can Big Sky avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
