The St. Pauls Bulldogs will venture away from home to square off against the Union Pines Vikings at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. St. Pauls will be strutting in after a win while Union Pines will be coming in after a loss.
St. Pauls made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Lakewood, but they still couldn't quite topple them. St. Pauls never let Lakewood get on the board and left with an 8-0 victory on Wednesday. The Bulldogs not only won on Wednesday, but they posted their biggest win since February 29, 2024.
Jaylen Jacobs was a standout: he got on base in all five of his plate appearances with three RBI and one stolen base. Zayin Hunt was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing Three bases. while going 1-for-3.
St. Pauls always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .579. The last time their OBP was this high was back in April of 2024.
Meanwhile, Union Pines might've scored the first runs on Wednesday, but it was Gray's Creek who claimed the real prize. Union Pines fell just short of Gray's Creek by a score of 5-4. The Vikings haven't had much luck with the Bears recently, as the team has come up short the last three times they've met.
Union Pines saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Dylan Benedict, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. David Park also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Union Pines now has a losing record of 2-3. As for St. Pauls, the win got them back to even at 2-2-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. St. Pauls has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Union Pines struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
St. Pauls might still be hurting after the 19-2 defeat they got from Union Pines when the teams last played two weeks ago. Can St. Pauls 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
