The Houston Hurricanes will square off against the Mabel-Canton Cougars at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Houston has given up an average of 7.6 runs per game this season, but Thursday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Houston came up short against Southland on Tuesday, falling 14-2. The loss continues a trend for the Hurricanes in their meetings with the Rebels: they've now lost nine in a row.
Meanwhile, while Mabel-Canton put up some runs on Tuesday, the same can't be said for Grand Meadow/Kingsland/LeRoy-Ostrander. The Cougars walked away with a 3-0 win over the Superlarks. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Cougars.
Not much got past Darian Hershberger, who gave up just five hits and racked up six Ks to keep Grand Meadow/Kingsland/LeRoy-Ostrander off the board. Hershberger has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Mabel-Canton saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kale Tollefsrud, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one RBI.
Houston's defeat dropped their record down to 6-10. As for Mabel-Canton, their victory bumped their record up to 8-10.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Houston has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Mabel-Canton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.5 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Houston was able to grind out a solid win over Mabel-Canton when the teams last played back in March, winning 3-0. Will the Hurricanes repeat their success, or do the Cougars have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
