Nucla has enjoyed the comforts of home their last six games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will square off against the Ignacio Bobcats at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Nucla will be hoping to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each contest than the last.
On Saturday, it was close, but Nucla sidestepped Dove Creek for an 8-7 win. That's two games straight that Nucla has won by just one run.
Steele Arnold made a splash no matter where he played. He pitched 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits. Arnold was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played.
Arnold wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Brycen Rummel, who scored a run while going 3-for-5. Rummel has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances. Another player making a difference was Josh Platt, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Ignacio came tearing into Saturday's game with seven straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 11 runs) and they left with even more momentum. They were the clear victor by a 16-7 margin over the Miners. Considering Ignacio has won five matches by more than eight runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
The team relied heavily on Marcus Maez, who scored three runs while going 3-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Wade Dunbar-Berger, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Nucla's victory bumped their record up to 5-8-1. As for Ignacio, they pushed their record up to 9-4 with that win, which was their fifth straight on the road.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Tuesday as neither team is afraid to steal. Nucla has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.1 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Ignacio struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.6. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Nucla came up short against Ignacio when the teams last played last Friday, falling 6-1. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Ignacio's Phillip Quintana, who struck out seven batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off six hits (and only one walk). Now that Nucla knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
