Eastlake is 2-8 against Mater Dei Catholic since May of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Titans will venture away from home to square off against the Crusaders at 4:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Eastlake 2.5, Mater Dei Catholic 2.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Friday, Eastlake didn't have quite enough to beat Otay Ranch and fell 2-1. The Titans have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Addison Suriano spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on two hits.
At the plate, Eastlake saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mackenzie Olshenskie, who went 1-for-3 with one run.
Meanwhile, Mater Dei Catholic had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it seven on Friday. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 2-1 W against the Barons.
Mater Dei Catholic also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Arri Romero gave up only one earned run on three hits. Romero has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 21 consecutive appearances.
Mater Dei Catholic pushed their record up to 19-5 with the victory, which was their ninth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.8 runs over those games. As for Eastlake, their defeat dropped their record down to 16-7-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Eastlake hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Mater Dei Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.7 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Eastlake came up short against Mater Dei Catholic when the teams last played on Wednesday, falling 5-2. Can the Titans avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
