Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial has gone 8-2 against King recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Saturday. The Eagles will square off against the Mustangs at 12:00 p.m. Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last 11 games.
Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They walked away with a 4-0 victory over Gregory-Portland.
Not much got past Zachary Hampton, who gave up just three hits and racked up nine Ks to keep Gregory-Portland off the board. Hampton has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
Trae Hernandez
| 04/08/25 @ Gregory-Portland | 1 |
| 04/05/25 @ Tuloso-Midway | 1 |
| 04/04/25 @ Flour Bluff | 1 |
| 03/31/25 vs Alice | 1 |
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Trae Hernandez, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played.
Meanwhile, King came into Tuesday's contest having lost seven straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They came out on top against Carroll by a score of 7-2 on Tuesday. The game was the first time the Mustangs have beaten the Tigers on their field since March 3, 2022.
Grant Hoogland was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has become a key player for King: the team is 2-1 when he allows at most two hits, but 4-16-1 otherwise. Hoogland was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March.
In other batting news, Justin Lytle was incredible, scoring two runs while going 3-for-3. He is becoming a predictor of King's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 2-1 (and 4-16-1 when he doesn't). Kody Westbrook also deserves some recognition as he got his first hits of the season.
Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial pushed their record up to 19-2-1 with the win, which was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for King, their record now sits at 6-17-1.
King's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Saturday. Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.1 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for King, though, as they've been averaging only 4.1 strikeouts. Will Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial keep running through batters, or will the Mustangs buck the trend?
Everything went Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial's way against King in their previous matchup back in March, as Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial made off with an 8-1 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Eagles since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
