East Union is 0-10 against Oakdale since May of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The East Union Lancers will head out on the road to challenge the Oakdale Mustangs at 4:00 p.m. East Union is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 7.3 runs per game this season.
East Union took a loss when they played away from home last Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They walked away with a 6-1 win over Sierra.
Lily Pickering spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on five hits and racked up nine Ks.
On the hitting side, Caliyah Lopez was a standout: she scored two runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Mackenzie Nervis, who went 1-for-3 with a home run.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, Oakdale gave their fans yet another huge victory on Tuesday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Sierra a 12-0 shutout. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for Oakdale considering their two-run performance the game before.
Raegen Everett made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Everett was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Presley Barnes, who went 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Abigail Rushing, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
East Union's record now sits at 12-7. As for Oakdale, they pushed their record up to 15-5 with that win, which was their fourth straight on the road.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. East Union has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Oakdale struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
East Union suffered a grim 12-1 defeat to Oakdale when the teams last played back in March. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Everett, who struck out ten batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Now that East Union 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
