The Brandon Bulldogs will head out on the road to face off against the Northwest Rankin Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Brandon can now show off ten landslide victories after their most recent game on Saturday. Everything went their way against Oak Grove as Brandon made off with an 11-2 victory.
Walker Hooks spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on three hits and racked up seven Ks. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in seven consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Brandon's win was truly a team effort as two different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Cameron Keyes, who scored a run while going 2-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Jay McQueen, who scored two runs while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Northwest Rankin beat Meridian on Friday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 13-2. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Northwest Rankin.
Brady Saxton made a splash while hitting and pitching. He struck out seven batters over four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits (and only one walk). Saxton was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.
In other pitching news, Dalton Pixley looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also didn't allow any walks).
Back at the plate, Caleb Brooks was a standout: he scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3. Trey Davidson was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
Brandon pushed their record up to 16-9 with that victory, which was their ninth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.3 runs per game. As for Northwest Rankin, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 17-7 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Brandon has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Northwest Rankin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.1. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Brandon came out on top in a nail-biter against Northwest Rankin when the teams last played back in March of 2023, sneaking past 8-7. The rematch might be a little tougher for Brandon since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
