The Grand Junction Tigers will play host again on Saturday to welcome the Heritage Eagles, where first pitch is scheduled at 10:00 a.m. Grand Junction is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.8 runs per game this season.
Grand Junction's hitters might be in the hot seat on Saturday considering what happened against Niwot on Friday. They fell 5-0 to the Cougars. The matchup marked the first time this year in which the Tigers were not able to get on the board.
Jaxon Clark spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned (and two unearned) runs on six hits and racked up ten Ks. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in strikeouts.
Even though they lost, Grand Junction didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with ten strikeouts. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 3.6 strikeouts per game earlier this season, but in their last five games they've averaged 7.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Heritage). They blew past Palisade 20-3 on Friday. The win was some much needed relief for the Eagles as it spelled an end to their six-game losing streak.
Macie Wilson looked comfortable as she tossed 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Aubrey Kramp, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Eliza Auger, who went 3-for-3 with three runs, a triple, and a triple.
Grand Junction's loss was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 10-6. As for Heritage, their victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 6-10.
Heritage's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Grand Junction has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.4 hits per game. It's a different story for Heritage, though, as they've been averaging 8.8. Given Grand Junction's sizable advantage in that area, Heritage will need to find a way to close that gap. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
