The Notre Dame (SO) Knights will head out on the road to square off against the Westlake Warriors at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The pair have allowed few runs on average, (Notre Dame (SO): 2.2, Westlake: 1.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Notre Dame (SO)'s pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They were the clear victor by a 6-0 margin over Crespi. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Notre Dame (SO).
Erik Puodzlunas spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just zero earned runs on one hit.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Levi Sterling, who went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Thursday Westlake sidestepped Oaks Christian for a 4-2 victory.
Westlake also got a great performance from Jesse Beer as he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and not a single walk). Beer has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Nolan Johnson, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Notre Dame (SO) is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 15 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 18-8-1 record this season. As for Westlake, their win bumped their record up to 23-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Notre Dame (SO) has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Westlake struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Notre Dame (SO) skirted past Westlake 4-2 in their previous matchup back in March of 2018. Does Notre Dame (SO) have another victory up their sleeve, or will Westlake turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
