El Capitan hasn't had much luck against Merced recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Gauchos will head out on the road to challenge the Bears at 4:00 p.m. El Capitan has given up an average of 15.2 runs per game this season, but Thursday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
El Capitan is headed into Thursday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their 31st straight game dating back to last season on Tuesday. They lost 14-2 to Los Banos.
El Capitan saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cienna James Gibson, who went 1-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run. That triple was James Gibson's first of the season.
Meanwhile, Merced had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Thunder an 11-0 shutout. Considering the Bears have won 13 matches by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
The result came thanks to Annalise Ramirez's shutout, as she gave up just three hits and racked up nine Ks.
At the plate, Evannie Valdovinos was excellent, going 1-for-2 with two runs and two RBI. Those two RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Maisen Priddell, who went 1-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Merced hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Buhach Colony struck out nine times.
Merced pushed their record up to 21-4-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.6 runs over those games. As for El Capitan, their loss dropped their record down to 0-18.
El Capitan might still be hurting after the 24-1 defeat they got from Merced in their previous meeting on April 8th. Can the Gauchos avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
