The Martin Luther Spartans will head out on the road to challenge the Dominican Knights at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Martin Luther is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 6.3 runs per game this season.
On Thursday, Martin Luther came up short against Shoreland Lutheran and fell 9-6.
Brendan Scheel and Nastacio Sanchez were huge no matter where they played even without the win. Throwing, Scheel tossed four innings while giving up just one earned (and four unearned) runs off four hits. Meanwhile, Sanchez pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Scheel has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances. At the plate, Scheel scored two runs while going 3-for-4, while Sanchez scored a run while going 1-for-4.
Even though they lost, Martin Luther was hitting in the alleys and finished the game with three doubles. That's the most doubles they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Dominican entered their match against St. Joseph on Thursday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Dominican fell victim to a rough 12-2 loss at the hands of St. Joseph. It was the first time this season that Dominican let down their fans at home.
Charlie Wahlen made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Martin Luther's record is now 4-3. As for Dominican, their defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 8-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Martin Luther has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Dominican struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Martin Luther came out on top in a nail-biter against Dominican when the teams last played last Monday, sneaking past 5-4. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Dominican's Tyler Feldbruegge, who struck out 13 batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off one hit. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Martin Luther still be able to contain Feldbruegge? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
