Palm Desert waltzed into their match on Wednesday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They beat the Millikan Rams by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 7-5. This was payback for Palm Desert, who suffered a 9-8 defeat the last time these two teams met.
Jake Brande tossed a big game, tossing 4.1 innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off four hits. Tyler Nicolay picked up the save, tossing 2.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits (he also didn't allow any walks).
On the hitting side, Tyler Barsness was a standout: he scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. JoJo Valdivia was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.
On Millikan's side, Andrew Perez made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored a run while going 1-for-2.
Palm Desert's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-9. Those victories were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.0 runs per game. As for Millikan, their loss dropped their record down to 13-6.
Palm Desert will stay at home for another game and welcome Fountain Valley at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday. Fountain Valley's pitching crew has only allowed 2.8 runs per game this season, so Palm Desert's hitters will have their work cut out for them. As for Millikan, they are on the road again on Tuesday to play South at 3:30 p.m. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (Millikan: 2.6, South: 2.3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
