The Pine-Richland Rams are taking a road trip to face off against the Butler Golden Tornado at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Pine-Richland will be looking to extend their current five-game winning streak.
Pine-Richland is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They were the clear victors by a 12-2 margin over West Allegheny on Tuesday. The result was nothing new for the Rams, who have now won five games by six runs or more so far this season.
Drew Boivin looked comfortable as he struck out eight batters over four innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances.
Tanner Cunningham
| 04/15/25 @ West Allegheny | 3 |
| 03/28/24 vs Canon-McMillan | 2 |
| 03/25/24 vs Bethel Park | 2 |
| 03/22/24 @ Norwin | 2 |
| 04/14/25 vs West Allegheny | 1 |
At the plate, Pine-Richland let Jake Waddell and Tanner Cunningham run wild. Waddell scored a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances, while Cunningham scored three runs while going 2-for-3. Those three runs gave Cunningham a new career-high. Ben Husted also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.
Meanwhile, Butler had to endure a three-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-2 win over Hempfield Area on Wednesday.
Mavrik Clement made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Clement was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Preston Richter and Trent Best did most of the damage at the plate: Richter got on base in three of his four plate appearances with three RBI, while Best scored two runs while going 2-for-4. Nash Cuffman was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
Pine-Richland pushed their record up to 10-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.8 runs over those games. As for Butler, their record is now 8-3.
Pine-Richland came out on top in a nail-biter against Butler when the teams last played back in April of 2024, sneaking past 3-2. Will the Rams repeat their success, or do the Golden Tornado have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
