After flying high against Belleville West on Friday, Murphysboro came back down to earth. The Murphysboro Red Devils fell 9-6 to the Columbia Eagles on Saturday. The result was an unpleasant reminder to Murphysboro of the 9-6 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in May of 2023.
Ayla Smith was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: she struck out seven batters over six innings while giving up just two earned runs off six hits.
On the hitting side, Murphysboro saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Macey Alexander, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Josi Clark, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Even though they lost, Murphysboro didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with nine strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Murphysboro's loss dropped their record down to 18-8. As for Columbia, their win bumped their record up to 17-9.
Murphysboro didn't take long to hit the field again: they've already played their next matchup, a 5-0 victory vs. Calhoun on the 4th. Columbia has also already played their next match, a 9-7 defeat against O'Fallon on the 4th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
