The Athens Hornets are taking a road trip to square off against the Rice Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are strolling into their matches after big wins in their previous games.
Athens is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They blew past Chapel Hill 15-5 on Tuesday. The Hornets haven't had any issues with the Bulldogs recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive victory against them.
While Rice didn't have the best season last year (they finished 4-12), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. Everything went their way against Wortham on Tuesday as Rice made off with a 9-2 win. Considering Rice has won three games by more than six runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Cadence Van Cleave spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on four hits and racked up 13 Ks.
At the plate, Sloan Cadena was a standout: she went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one triple. She also put up a double, which was her first of the season. Another player making a difference was Halie Adams, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3.
Rice kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Wortham onlymanaged four hits.
Athens' victory bumped their record up to 6-2. As for Rice, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-1-1 record this season.
Everything went Athens' way against Rice when the teams last played back in March of 2024, as Athens made off with an 11-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Athens since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
