The Pontiac Indians will square off against the Edwardsville Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Pontiac's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They put the hurt on Paxton-Buckley-Loda with a sharp 10-0 win. The Indians haven't had any issues with the Panthers recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.
Elena Krause made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in nine consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
In other pitching news, Payton Rogers looked comfortable as she pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Tessa Collins, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double. Those two stolen bases gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Nevaeh Vogt, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
Pontiac was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Paxton-Buckley-Loda only posted a batting average of .067.
Meanwhile, Edwardsville entered their tilt with Alton on Thursday with eight consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with nine. They were the clear victors by an 11-0 margin over the Redbirds. Give the Tigers' pitching crew some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.
Edwardsville's win was their tenth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 19-4. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.1 runs on average over those games. As for Pontiac, their win bumped their record up to 15-6.
Pontiac came out on top in a nail-biter against Edwardsville in their previous matchup back in April of 2023, sneaking past 4-3. Do the Indians have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Tigers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
