vs
| 04/25/24 - Away | 10-5 W |
| 04/04/24 - Home | 6-5 W |
| 05/01/23 - Away | 3-10 L |
| 04/05/23 - Away | 3-7 L |
| 05/21/16 - Away | 5-7 L |
| 04/25/15 - Home | 13-1 W |
Lyndhurst and Rutherford are an even 3-3 against one another since April of 2015, but likely not for long. The Golden Bears will square off against the Bulldogs at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Lyndhurst's pitching crew has only allowed 3.3 runs per game this season, so Rutherford's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
On Wednesday, Lyndhurst didn't have quite enough to beat Emerson and fell 4-3. The Golden Bears haven't had much luck with the Cavaliers recently, as the team has come up short the last seven times they've met.
Ryan Lemanowicz was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI. Matt Jarvis also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.
Meanwhile, Rutherford had already won two in a row and they went ahead and made it three on Wednesday. They blew past the Bears 11-1. The Bulldogs might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six games by ten runs or more this season.
Andrew Erickson made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs off four hits. Erickson was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run.
In other batting news, Rutherford got a big performance out of Chris Gioia, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. Myles Balchan was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, one run, and one double.
Rutherford was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .407. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in three consecutive matchups.
Rutherford pushed their record up to 9-2 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.3 runs over those games. As for Lyndhurst, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lyndhurst has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Rutherford struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lyndhurst was able to grind out a solid victory over Rutherford in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, winning 10-5. Do the Golden Bears have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Bulldogs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
