Grimsley has won five straight games at home, while Ragsdale has won five straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Whirlies will host the Tigers at 6:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Grimsley 2.4, Ragsdale 3.3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Wednesday, Grimsley was able to grind out a solid win over Northern Guilford, taking the game 4-1. The Whirlies haven't had any issues with the Nighthawks recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
Jacob Benbow looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over four innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single earned run in four consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Sebastian Rodriguez was excellent, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double. That's the most hits he has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Max Snyder, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one run and one RBI.
Grimsley always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .536. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Northern Guilford only posted an OBP of .125.
Meanwhile, Ragsdale never let their opponents score on Thursday. They had just enough and edged out Southwest Guilford 1-0. That's two games straight that the Tigers have won by just one run.
Ragsdale saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Dillon Bullard, who went 1-for-3 with one double.
Ragsdale is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 13 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 18-6 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.2 runs over those games. As for Grimsley, their victory bumped their record up to 21-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Grimsley has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Ragsdale struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.4 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Grimsley beat Ragsdale 8-3 when the teams last played back in March. Will the Whirlies repeat their success, or do the Tigers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
