Thursday just wasn't the day for Lake Norman's offense. They fell 5-0 to the Hickory Ridge Ragin' Bulls on Thursday. Lake Norman has struggled against Hickory Ridge recently, as their matchup on Thursday was their eighth consecutive lost matchup.
Vivian Billiard was huge no matter where she played even without the win. On the mound, she struck out nine batters over six innings while giving up four earned runs off seven hits. Billiard has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances. Billiard was also big at the plate, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with two doubles and a stolen base.
Billiard wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Kyera Combs, who went 2-for-2 with a stolen base.
On Hickory Ridge's side, not much got past Embler Kristyn, who gave up just four hits and racked up ten Ks to keep Lake Norman off the board.
At the plate, Katherine Rhyne was incredible, going 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Katelyn Kiser was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 1-for-2.
Lake Norman's defeat dropped their record down to 8-4. As for Hickory Ridge, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season.
Lake Norman will head out on the road to take on South Caldwell at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. South Caldwell will roll in looking for their 12th straight victory, something Lake Norman surely won't give up without a fight. As for Hickory Ridge, they will look to defend their home field on Tuesday against West Cabarrus at 6:00 p.m. Hickory Ridge is facing West Cabarrus at the right time seeing as West Cabarrus is stuck on an eight-game losing streak.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
