The Juniata Valley Hornets will challenge the Mount Union Trojans at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Mount Union took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Juniata Valley, who comes in off a win.
Juniata Valley is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They put the hurt on Williamsburg with a sharp 17-3 victory on Thursday. The Hornets have beaten the Blue Pirates the last nine times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Blue Pirates has come to flipping the script.
Chassity Houck looked comfortable as she pitched three innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Kaitlyn Seville, who got on base in all four of her plate appearances with one home run, five RBI, and three runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Julia Devore, who got on base in three of her five plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI.
Juniata Valley always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .538. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Mount Union lost 15-4 to Southern Huntingdon County on Thursday.
Payton Williams put in work no matter where she played. She pitched 3.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits. Williams was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with one run and one RBI.
Williams wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Sydnee Harris, who went 1-for-3 with one run.
Mount Union has also been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 6-13 record this season. As for Juniata Valley, the win got them back to even at 8-8-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Juniata Valley has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Mount Union struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Juniata Valley came out on top in a nail-biter against Mount Union in their previous meeting back in March, sneaking past 4-3. Will the Hornets repeat their success, or do the Trojans have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
