Desert Christian is on a six-game streak of home wins, while San Manuel is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Desert Christian Eagles will take on the San Manuel Miners at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Even though Valley Union scored an imposing ten runs on Wednesday, Desert Christian still came out on top. Desert Christian blew past Valley Union 25-10.
Alexa Yarger made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out eight over four innings pitched. Yarger has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances. Yarger was also big at the plate, scoring four runs while getting on base in five of her six plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Anika Mulkey, who went 4-for-5 with a home run, five runs, and five RBI. Another player making a difference was Lilly Crawford, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of her six plate appearances.
Meanwhile, while San Manuel put up plenty of runs on Friday, the same can't be said for Duncan. San Manuel put the hurt on Duncan with a sharp 19-0 win. The victory was just what San Manuel needed coming off of a 19-1 defeat in their prior game.
Like Desert Christian, San Manuel also got a great game from a two-way player: Julianna Garcia. She didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Garcia was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, San Manuel got a massive performance out of Laila Ruiz, who went 3-for-4 with four runs, a triple, and two RBI. Mariah Villalba was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.
Desert Christian's win bumped their record up to 13-3-1. As for San Manuel, they are on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 14 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 15-5-1 record this season.
Thursday's match will be a test for both team's pitchers. Desert Christian hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .471. However, it's not like San Manuel struggles in that department as they've averaged .390. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Desert Christian came up short against San Manuel in their previous matchup back in March, falling 13-8. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Villalba, who struck out eight batters over six innings while giving up three earned (and five unearned) runs off nine hits (and only one walk). Now that Desert Christian 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