Jal hasn't had much luck against Loving recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. The Panthers will venture away from home to take on the Falcons at 1:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty run totals in their previous games.
While Jal's win against Eunice wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Panthers skirted past the Cardinals 11-9. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Panthers have posted since April 12th.
Johnna Butts was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she pitched seven innings while giving up just one earned (and eight unearned) runs off seven hits. Butts was also big at the plate, going 2-for-5 with four RBI, one stolen base, and one run. That's the most hits she has posted over her last eight matches.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Yanira Sauceda, who fired off two home runs and five RBI while going 2-for-4. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in runs (two). Kaedyn Lujan also deserves some recognition as she hit her first triple of the season.
Meanwhile, Loving had already won 12 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.1 runs) and they went ahead and made it 13 on Tuesday. They blew past the Coyotes 23-1. Considering the Falcons have won 15 contests by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Like Jal, Loving also got a great game from a two-way player: Braylee Hunt. She struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and not a single walk). Hunt has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in four consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Loving got a massive performance out of Adryanna Nieto, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with five stolen bases, four runs, and one RBI. Sierra Rodriguez was another key player, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with two stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs.
Loving always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .889. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .524 or higher in three consecutive games.
Loving's win was their ninth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-6. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Jal, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches. That's provided a massive bump to their 10-10 record this season.
Jal suffered a grim 19-1 defeat to Loving in their previous meeting last Tuesday. Can the Panthers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
