The Austin Black Bears will face off against the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Austin is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Huntsville, sneaking past 3-2.
Meanwhile, Tuscaloosa County hadn't done well against Hoover recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. The Wildcats sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 win over the Buccaneers. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.
Karlie Beth Beasley spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on seven hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Jaslene Belden was excellent, going 3-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. Jana Nichols also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.
Tuscaloosa County pushed their record up to 39-13-1 with the victory, which was their eighth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Austin, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 40-18-1 record this season.
Austin couldn't quite get it done against Tuscaloosa County when the teams last played back in February of 2024 as they fell 5-0. Can the Black Bears avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
