The St. Joseph Knights will take on the Lompoc Braves at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. St. Joseph will be looking to extend their current ten-game winning streak.
St. Joseph is returning to their home field after beating Righetti on theirs, despite the fact Righetti has dominated at home this season. The Knights put the hurt on the Warriors with a sharp 8-1 victory on Wednesday. The result was nothing new for the Knights, who have now won six games by seven runs or more so far this season.
Taylor Mediano
| 04/16/25 @ Righetti | 8 |
| 04/14/25 vs Kingsburg | 8 |
| 04/09/25 vs Mission College Prep | 9 |
| 04/04/25 @ Arroyo Grande | 10 |
| 04/02/25 @ Lompoc | 10 |
| + 7 more games |
Taylor Mediano was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit (and only one walk). She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in 12 consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with one home run and four RBI. Those four RBI gave her a new career-high.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Seleny Chavez, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-5. She has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Shai Valadez, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
St. Joseph kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in four consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Lompoc fell victim to Arroyo Grande and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They came up short against the Eagles, falling 7-0. Having soared to a lofty ten runs in the game before, the Braves' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
St. Joseph's win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-4. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Lompoc, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost five of their last six matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 11-8 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. St. Joseph hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Lompoc struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
St. Joseph came out on top in a nail-biter against Lompoc when the teams last played two weeks ago, sneaking past 1-0. Will the Knights repeat their success, or do the Braves have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
