Memorial is on a four-game streak of home wins, while Stratford is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Mustangs will welcome the Spartans at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Memorial's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They blew past Jersey Village 11-0. The win continues a trend for the Mustangs in their matchups with the Falcons: they've now won four in a row.
Isabella Borrego was incredible, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Sophie Vlasak, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Memorial always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .514. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Jersey Village only posted an OBP of .176.
Meanwhile, Stratford was not the first on the board last Tuesday, but they got there more often. Everything went their way against Cypress Ridge as they made off with a 12-1 victory.
Gwyn Katterhenry spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on three hits and racked up 14 Ks. Those 14 strikeouts set a new season-high mark for her.
On the hitting side, Marielle Kiersh was a standout: she went 1-for-4 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI. That triple marked the first that she hit this season. Allison Hibbetts was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-5.
Stratford is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 16-5 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Memorial, their victory bumped their record up to 20-3.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Memorial hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.7 home runs per game. However, it's not like Stratford struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.6 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Memorial beat Stratford 5-2 in their previous meeting back in March. Do the Mustangs have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Spartans turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.