Slippery Rock and Hickory are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2018, but likely not for long. The Slippery Rock Rockets have the luxury of staying home for another game and will welcome the Hickory Hornets at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
If Slippery Rock beats Hickory with six runs on Monday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two matchups with that exact score. Slippery Rock came out on top against Neshannock by a score of 6-3 on Friday.
Connor Zorn was excellent, scoring two runs while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Ryan Double, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two RBI.
Meanwhile, Hickory had just enough and edged Franklin out 4-3 on Wednesday.
Matthew Myers looked comfortable as he pitched four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits.
At the plate, Hickory let Joey Cidila and Landon Koerth loose on the outfield. Cidila went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and a double, while Koerth scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-2.
Slippery Rock has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season. As for Hickory, the win got them back to even at 3-3.
Monday's game might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Slippery Rock has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .484. However, it's not like Hickory struggles in that department as they've averaged .469. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Slippery Rock came up short against Hickory in their previous meeting back in May of 2023, falling 13-8. Thankfully for Slippery Rock, Dj Donatelli (who didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps