Hickory and Slippery Rock are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2018, but likely not for long. The Hickory Hornets will be playing in front of their home fans against the Slippery Rock Rockets at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Hickory is out to stop a three-game streak of losses at home.
Hickory will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs on Friday, then bounced right back against Franklin on Monday. Everything went Hickory's way against Franklin as Hickory made off with a 12-2 victory. That looming 12-2 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Hickory yet this season.
AJ Reardon looked comfortable as he pitched 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Joey Cidila was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Max Moreland, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Slippery Rock lost 11-1 to Conneaut Area on Monday. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest runs Slippery Rock has scored all season.
Isaac McCandless was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-2 with a home run and two stolen bases.
Hickory's win bumped their record up to 6-9. As for Slippery Rock, their loss dropped their record down to 12-5.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Wednesday as neither team is afraid to steal. Hickory has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 5.1 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Slippery Rock struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.5. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Hickory suffered a grim 12-2 defeat to Slippery Rock in their previous meeting back in April. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Slippery Rock's Ryan Double, who pitched 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. Now that Hickory knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
