The Franklin Knights will head out on the road to challenge the Oil City Oilers at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with ten consecutive losses for Franklin and four for Oil City.
Franklin lost 12-2 to Hickory on Monday.
Franklin saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Nate Fezell, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases. Alex Wible was another key contributor, going 1-for-3 with two RBI and a double.
Even though they lost, Franklin didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with eight strikeouts. This was only their 11th loss (out of 14 games) when they post five or more strikeouts.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought contest, but Oil City had to settle for a 5-4 loss against Grove City on Monday.
Casey Rybak was huge no matter where he played even without the win. He tossed three innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off three hits. Rybak has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances. Rybak was even better at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three doubles and three RBI.
In other batting news, Conner (Hank) Lockhart was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in two of his five plate appearances.
Franklin's record now sits at 3-14. As for Oil City, they now have a losing record at 8-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Franklin has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Oil City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.5. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
