The Holmes Huskies are taking a road trip to challenge the O'Connor Panthers at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.
Holmes came into this matchup off a tough 12-run defeat last Friday. This time they kept things ultra-competitive, but unfortunately the final result was the same. They fell just short of Brennan by a score of 7-5 on Thursday. The loss continues a trend for the Huskies in their meetings with the Bears: they've now lost six in a row.
Lauren Gonzalez spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned (and three unearned) runs on nine hits. Those hits marked the first that she allowed this season.
On the hitting side, Nevaeh Alcantar was cooking despite her team's loss, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, two RBI, and one double.
Meanwhile, O'Connor had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.8 runs) and they went ahead and made it nine on Thursday. They were the clear victors by a 12-2 margin over the Rams. That's two games straight that the Panthers have won by exactly ten runs.
Bel Ganter tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits (and not a single walk). Those seven strikeouts gave her a new career-high.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Isabella Sierra, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. What's more, she posted three RBI, the most she's had since back in February. Lexie Ganter was another key player, scoring two runs while going 1-for-2.
O'Connor was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .423. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .333 or higher in five consecutive contests.
O'Connor's win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-2. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Holmes, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-11.
Holmes might still be hurting after the 14-6 loss they got from O'Connor in their previous matchup back in March. Can the Huskies avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
