Lincoln County and Burke County are an even 4-4 against one another since August of 2018, but likely not for long. The Lincoln County Red Devils will be playing at home against the Burke County Bears at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
Last Thursday, Lincoln County came up short against Oglethorpe County and fell 14-9. The Red Devils have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Meanwhile, Burke County had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 23.5 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They were the clear victor by a 15-5 margin over the Eagles. Considering the Bears have won seven matches by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Malia Washington was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She struck out 11 batters over six innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off only one hit. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in strikeouts. She was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with four RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Braylin Fare, who went 2-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and a triple. She is also on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as she's now stolen at least one in the last five games she's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Maddox Russell, who scored two runs and stole three bases while getting on base in two of her four plate appearances.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Burke County hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most two strikeouts in three consecutive contests.
Lincoln County's defeat dropped their record down to 6-5. As for Burke County, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 9-6 record this season.
Lincoln County suffered a grim 7-1 defeat to Burke County in their previous matchup last Tuesday. Will Lincoln County have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
