The West Lafayette Red Devils will venture away from home to take on the Lafayette Jefferson Bronchos at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. West Lafayette's hitters haven't had much luck over their past three games, but Tuesday's contest will give them a chance to turn things around.
Monday just wasn't the day for West Lafayette's offense. They fell just short of Logansport by a score of 1-0 on Monday.
Molly Mansfield spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on five hits.
On the hitting side, West Lafayette saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kerrigan Gooden, who went 2-for-3 with one double.
Meanwhile, Lafayette Jefferson made easy work of Marion on Saturday and carried off a 17-6 win. The result was nothing new for the Bronchos, who have now won eight matchups by ten runs or more so far this season.
Andi Mooney made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Mooney was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. That's the most hits she has posted since back in April.
In other batting news, Maya Thomas and Evy Pitt did most of the damage at the plate: Thomas went 3-for-4 with four RBI, two runs, and one stolen base, while Pitt went 3-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and one stolen base. That's the most RBI Thomas has posted over her last 13 contests. The team also got some help courtesy of Rilee Clifton, who went 2-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.
Lafayette Jefferson always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. They are 7-1 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Lafayette Jefferson is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games. That's provided a nice bump to their 14-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.5 runs on average over those games. As for West Lafayette, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-10.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. West Lafayette hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Lafayette Jefferson struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
West Lafayette was able to grind out a solid win over Lafayette Jefferson when the teams last played back in April of 2024, winning 4-1. Do the Red Devils have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Bronchos turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
