Two dominant two-way players in Justin Cuellar and Noah Gonzales are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Tulare Western Mustangs will head out on the road to square off against the Hanford Bullpups at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Tulare Western is no doubt hoping to put an end to a five-game streak of away losses.
On Tuesday, Tulare Western got themselves on the board against Dinuba, but Dinuba never followed suit. They walked away with a 4-0 win over the Emperors. That four run margin sets a new team best for Tulare Western this season.
William Masterson spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just zero earned runs on six hits and racked up nine Ks.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Blake Crawford, who went 1-for-2 with a home run, two runs, and a stolen base.
Meanwhile, Hanford had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.5 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They blew past the The Tribe 7-1.
Gonzales made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Gonzales was also big at the plate, getting on base in all five of his plate appearances with two runs, a triple, and a double.
In other batting news, Derek Knight and Thane Herman did most of the damage at the plate: Knight scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4, while Herman went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, two RBI, and a double. Another player making a difference was Manny Souza, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-4.
Tulare Western is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a massive bump to their 4-7 record this season. As for Hanford, their record now sits at 7-3.
Tulare Western beat Hanford 6-1 in their previous meeting back in April of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Tulare Western 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
