The Merced Bears will head out on the road to take on the Golden Valley Cougars at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The last four games Merced has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
Last Thursday, it was a hard-fought contest, but Merced had to settle for a 5-4 loss against Central Valley. That's two games in a row now that Merced has lost by just one run.
Riley Dickey put in work while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed six innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. Dickey has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in six consecutive pitching appearances. Dickey was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Dickey wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Jayden Resendez, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Golden Valley, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 13-3 margin over Patterson on Thursday. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for Golden Valley considering their two-run performance the game before.
Merced has been struggling recently as they've lost eight of their last nine matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 11-12 record this season. As for Golden Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 10-14.
Merced was able to grind out a solid win over Golden Valley when the teams last played back in April of 2023, winning 5-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for Merced 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
