The Palo Alto Vikings will be playing at home against the Saratoga Falcons at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Palo Alto waltzed into their match on Tuesday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past the Bruins 9-8.
Kira Tzeng was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out six batters over five innings while giving up four earned (and one unearned) runs off nine hits (and only one walk). Tzeng has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in five consecutive pitching appearances. Tzeng was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Alana Chun was excellent, scoring a run and stealing three bases while getting on base in two of her four plate appearances. She is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as she's now stolen at least one in the last three games she's played. Kensie Pao was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in two of her four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Saratoga has not done well against Cupertino recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Saratoga came out on top in a nail-biter against Cupertino and snuck past 3-2. The win made it back-to-back victories for Saratoga.
Saira Ramakrishnan spent all seven innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on five hits and racked up 11 Ks.
At the plate, Saratoga saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Vivian Lei, who scored a run while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Dahlia Murthy, who went 1-for-3 with two runs and a triple.
Palo Alto's win bumped their record up to 4-5-1. As for Saratoga, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 4-2 record this season.
Saratoga's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Palo Alto hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .350. It's a different story for Saratoga, though, as they've only averaged .258. Will they be able to contain Palo Alto's hitters?
Palo Alto suffered a grim 12-1 defeat to Saratoga in their previous matchup back in April of 2023. Can Palo Alto 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
