vs
| 04/08/25 - Away | 24-1 W |
| 03/20/25 - Home | 10-0 W |
| 05/08/24 - Away | 8-2 W |
| 04/12/24 - Home | 11-1 W |
| 05/10/23 - Home | 0-17 L |
| + 5 more games |
Merced is 8-2 against El Capitan since April of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Bears will host the Gauchos at 4:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Merced has three straight victories, El Capitan has 31 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Merced had to skate by with only a two-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 11-run drubbing they dealt Buhach Colony on Tuesday. The Bears never let the Thunder get on the board and left with an 11-0 win. 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. Maisen Priddell was another key player, going 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.
Meanwhile, El Capitan scored first but ultimately less than Los Banos in their contest on Tuesday. They came up short against the Tigers, falling 14-2.
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.
Merced's victory was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 21-4-1. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for El Capitan, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-18.
El Capitan's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Thursday. Merced has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.1 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for El Capitan, though, as they've been averaging only 2.9 strikeouts. Will Merced keep running through batters, or will the Gauchos buck the trend?
Everything went Merced's way against El Capitan in their previous meeting on April 8th, as Merced made off with a 24-1 victory. Do the Bears have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Gauchos turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
