The Salem Spartans will venture away from home to square off against the Blacksburg Bruins at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Salem came out on top against Cave Spring on Friday thanks in part to the team's impressive six-run fourth inning. The Spartans put the hurt on the Knights with a sharp 12-2 victory.
Meanwhile, Blacksburg had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.3 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They never let the Cougars get on the board and left with a 10-0 win. That looming 10-0 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Bruins yet this season.
Sam Szefc made a splash while hitting and pitching. He kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four RBI and two doubles. Those two doubles gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, Brice Abbott was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Soma Kato, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs and one RBI.
Blacksburg pushed their record up to 13-2 with the victory, which was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.6 runs on average over those games. As for Salem, their record is now 10-5.
Salem might still be hurting after the 9-2 loss they got from Blacksburg in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Can the Spartans avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
