vs
| 03/21/25 - Home | 15-0 W |
| 03/21/24 - Home | 12-0 W |
| 03/21/24 - Home | 16-1 W |
| 04/12/23 - Home | 12-0 W |
| 03/31/23 - Away | 22-0 W |
| + 5 more games |
Northwest Rankin is a perfect 10-0 against Pearl since April of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Tuesday. The Cougars will venture away from home to take on the Pirates at 6:30 p.m. Northwest Rankin will be looking to extend their current 11-game winning streak.
Northwest Rankin is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Mississippi's top teams: Madison Central, who was ranked 17th at the time (Northwest Rankin was ranked second). The Cougars walked away with an 8-3 victory over the Jaguars on Saturday.
Bella Pierce looked comfortable as she tossed 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in ten consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Brooke Smith, who scored two runs and stole four bases while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. That's the most stolen bases she has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Laney May, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI.
Meanwhile, Pearl won against Oak Grove on Thursday with five runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Saturday. The Pirates came out on top against Richland by a score of 5-2. The win was familiar territory for the Pirates, who have now won three contests in a row.
Lilly Byrd spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on seven hits and racked up 11 Ks.
On the hitting side, Pearl's victory was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Shiloh Wells, who scored a run while going 1-for-2. Skylar Brumfield also deserves some recognition as she scored her first run of the season.
Northwest Rankin's win was their 22nd straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 20-2. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average this season. As for Pearl, their record is now 13-7.
Northwest Rankin took their win against Pearl when the teams last played back in March by a conclusive 15-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Cougars since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
