The Batesville Bulldogs will be playing in front of their home fans against the Rushville Lions at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Rushville took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Batesville, who comes in off a win.
Having struggled with nine defeats in a row, Batesville finally turned things around against Franklin County on Tuesday. Batesville walked away with a 4-1 win over Franklin County.
Libby Stephens spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered one run (which was unearned) on four hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than six innings in five consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Batesville's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Cora Roth, who went 2-for-3 with a double.
Meanwhile, Rushville fell victim to Triton Central and their airtight pitching crew on Thursday. They took a 4-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Tigers. Rushville just can't catch a break and has now endured four losses in a row.
Rushville also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Becca Tabeling gave up three earned (and one unearned) runs on three hits.
Batesville's win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 2-9. As for Rushville, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-8.
Batesville's speedy runners might be the difference in Friday's match. Batesville has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.5 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Rushville, though, as they've been averaging only 0.7. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Batesville continue to outrun the ball?
Batesville suffered a grim 9-0 defeat to Rushville when the teams last played back in April. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rushville's Stacey Roberts, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out eight over 6.2 innings pitched. Now that Batesville knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
