The Pender Patriots will venture away from home to square off against the South Lenoir Blue Devils at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Pender has given up an average of 11.4 runs per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Pender is headed into Friday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight games on Thursday. They came up short against Hobbton, falling 14-4.
Reese Robertson and Blake Howell stepped up to the plate in a big way. Robertson went a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs and one stolen base, while Howell went a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI and two doubles. Those doubles marked the first that Howell has hit this season. Sean Cummings was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, South Lenoir made easy work of Pender on Monday and carried off a 14-1 victory. Considering the Blue Devils have won eight matchups by more than six runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.
South Lenoir got a massive performance out of Noah Rouse, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with three runs and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Braden Barnett, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with three runs and one RBI.
South Lenoir always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .579. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Pender only posted an OBP of .222.
The win made it two in a row for South Lenoir and bumps their season record up to 11-2. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 2 run in those games. As for Pender, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-14.
Pender might still be hurting after the 14-1 loss they got from South Lenoir when the teams last played on Monday. Can the Patriots avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps