After both having extra time off, the East Lincoln Mustangs and the Foard Tigers will dust off their jerseys to take on one another at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Thursday, East Lincoln beat Hickory 7-4.
Meredith Bolen spent all nine innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned runs on five hits.
On the hitting side, Tatum Martin and Kaitlyn Gust did most of the damage at the plate: Martin scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances, while Gust went 2-for-2 with two stolen bases and three RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Madison Currence, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, Foard entered their tilt with North Iredell with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. Everything went their way against the Raiders last Thursday as they made off with a 13-2 victory. Considering Foard has won five matchups by more than nine runs this season, last Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Karsyn Sigmon made a splash while hitting and pitching. She struck out six batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits (and not a single walk). Sigmon has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances. Sigmon was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Livi Queen, who scored two runs and stole four bases while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Riley Vogel, who scored a run and stole two bases while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
East Lincoln now has a winning record of 5-4. As for Foard, they pushed their record up to 5-2 with that win, which was their third straight on the road.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. East Lincoln has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.9 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Foard struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.5. The only question left is which team can snag more.
East Lincoln was able to grind out a solid victory over Foard in their previous matchup back in April of 2023, winning 7-2. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Foard's Alyssa Smith, who tossed five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (she also only allowed one walk). Now that she won't be playing on Monday, will it be that much easier for East Lincoln to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
