The Salem Wildcats will look to defend their home field on Thursday against the Roxana Shells at 4:30 p.m. Salem is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.6 runs per game this season.
Salem's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged East Alton-Wood River out 2-0.
Olivia Paulson was excellent, going 2-for-3 with a home run.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Roxana's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They fell just short of Columbia by a score of 7-6. The loss continues a trend for Roxana in their matchups with Columbia: they've now lost six in a row.
Calista Stahlhut put in work while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 12 batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and five unearned) runs off seven hits. Stahlhut has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in 15 consecutive pitching appearances. Stahlhut was also stellar in the batter's box, going 4-for-4 with a home run and two runs.
In other batting news, Ridley Allen made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Ava Cherry was another key contributor, going 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.
Salem is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 18-5 record this season. As for Roxana, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Salem hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like Roxana struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Salem might still be hurting after the 8-2 loss they got from Roxana when the teams last played back in April. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Stahlhut, who struck out nine batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits (and only one walk). Now that Salem knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
