The Fairview Tigers are on the road again on Monday to play the Mercyhurst Prep Lakers. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Fairview is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. Everything went their way against Harbor Creek as Fairview made off with an 11-4 victory. Fairview's win was all the more impressive since Harbor Creek was averaging only 3.45 runs allowed on the season.
Tyler Benford was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched an inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Benford was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Luke Rzodkiewicz and Andrew Stevens did most of the damage at the plate: Rzodkiewicz scored two runs while going 3-for-4, while Stevens scored two runs while going 1-for-4. Another player making a difference was Austin Hawley, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Mercyhurst Prep had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.3 runs), and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They put the hurt on the Rockets with a sharp 8-1 victory. That's two games straight that Mercyhurst Prep has won by exactly seven runs.
Noah Trojanowski looked comfortable as he pitched 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Zack Kruszewski was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing three bases while going 2-for-3. Josh Majczyk was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Fairview is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-3 record this season. As for Mercyhurst Prep, their record is now 18-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Fairview has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Mercyhurst Prep struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Fairview came up short against Mercyhurst Prep when the teams last played on May 6th, falling 6-3. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mercyhurst Prep's Hunter Krahe, who struck out ten batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits. Now that Fairview knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
